Agriculture can both help and hinder: It can act as an incubator of novel animal-borne microbes, facilitating their evolution into human-ready pathogens, or it can form barriers that help block their spread.
The University of Michigan is leading interdisciplinary curriculum and cutting-edge research programs around food security and human health, social equity, and environmental impact. U-M organizations are pioneering sustainable practices for the university community and building partnerships with people and organizations at every stage of the food system.
From analyzing the environmental benefits of diversified farming systems to understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access, U-M experts are leading efforts to bring forward multidisciplinary, sustainable approaches. Some of our key initiatives in food include: the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, the Campus Farm, the U-M Sustainable Food Program, and M Dining. U-M also offers an interdisciplinary community-academic partnership course, Food Literacy For All, which is open to the public. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
Agriculture can both help and hinder: It can act as an incubator of novel animal-borne microbes, facilitating their evolution into human-ready pathogens, or it can form barriers that help block their spread.
A new University of Michigan-led study finds that farmers in India have adapted to warming temperatures by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation. If the trend continues, the rate of groundwater loss could triple by 2080, further threatening India’s food and water security.
Producing palm oil has caused deforestation and biodiversity loss across Southeast Asia and elsewhere, including Central America. Efforts to curtail the damage have largely focused on voluntary environmental certification programs that label qualifying palm-oil sources as “sustainable.”
"Join the conversations already happening rather than remake the wheel. Climate anxiety is very real, and research shows individual actions don’t help reduce that, but collective action—joining groups, clubs, green teams, nonprofit organizations, local watershed coalitions—actually does reduce climate anxiety and eco grief."
"There’s a huge need for people who understand the natural environment and want to work in the urban setting. It’s a surprising gap where best and promising practices from natural resource management don’t make it into the urban planning and urban design space."
"We often say you don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you came from. Studying our history and being aware of all of the deep nuances of Black ag history is so important for what we’re doing today."