The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), reported that half of the United States was impacted by drought or extremely dry weather during the past year. While the statistics and impacts of drought can fluctuate from week to week, one thing remains constant: weather has a significant impact on farmers and influences the price of food.

As soil moisture dwindles, crops productivity falls. Droughts can also disrupt the planting and harvesting schedules of plants, resulting in lower yields and making plants more vulnerable to pests and diseases.

Dr. Dennis Todey is a climatologist with the USDA Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, Iowa, and said the full impact of this year’s drought is not yet known.

“There are places that will see significantly reduced yields.  But at this point supply does not seem to be a major problem.  The drought developed later in the season and may hit soybeans more.  Earlier in the season conditions were manageable for crops overall,” he said.

Where irrigation is available, growers were able to irrigate their food crops, so the yields were not affected as much, Dr. Todey said. Row crops such as grains and soybeans are irrigated less often.

However, the drought could cause the prices of meat and dairy products to increase because the cost of animal feed will be higher, reported Clevland.com, a news and information site based in Ohio.

But drought is not the only issue. USDA’s climate tracking is witnessing storm events with greater impacts – more damaging wind or hail events and heavier precipitation, Dr. Todey said. This weather impacts food supplies and prices at the store. For instance, the prices of vegetables, nuts, and berries are higher this year because of flooding in California, according to USA Today.  A combination of factors including drought, labor costs, war in Ukraine and trade disruptions led to record-high food prices in 2022, NPR reported.

Managing extreme events is challenging climatologists, researchers and agricultural producers. Farmers are proactively researching and implementing a range of practices including diversifying cropping systems, selecting crops better suited to drought conditions, and adopting soil management practices such as incorporating cover crops into rotation, in defense of conditions mother nature throws their way.

“Soils are our first line of defense against changing climate conditions,” Dr. Todey said. “Improving soil management has to be part of every operation. Changing rainfall with larger events and more rain when we have no crop canopy are also making soil loss worse. Improving soil management including reducing tillage and cover cropping can help mitigate soil loss issues.”

Weather has a direct impact on how food is grown and can affect the price of food. Farmers and scientists continue to develop methods to lessen the impact of weather and climate change.

The post How does weather impact the food chain? appeared first on Best Food Facts.

The report notes that nearly 1 billion people in the world are going hungry and that about 2 billion people are consuming more calories than they need. In light of climate change and a growing world population, the report recommends some people change their diets.

The “planetary health diet” offers five strategies to encourage people to change their eating habits. These include governments giving incentives to eat healthier and intensifying agriculture sustainability. One of the recommendations is for those in North America and Europe to reduce meat and sugar consumption and to eat more fruits, vegetables and nuts.

When considering changes to your diet, Best Food Facts experts advise eating a balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high-quality proteins.

“Protein has several functions in the body including serving as structural components of muscle,” said Dr. Ruth MacDonald, chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University,  in an article for Best Food Facts. “High-quality protein sources are identified by nutrition scientists as those that contain all the essential amino acids in the amounts needed by humans. The highest quality proteins come from animal sources – eggs, meat and milk.”

Choose a variety of protein sources and consider the additional nutrients a food provides, suggested Dr. Liz Applegate, director of Sports Nutrition at the University of California-Davis.

“For meats like chicken, turkey, beef and pork, you’re getting a high-quality protein with the essential amino acids your body needs, but you also get the good absorbable trace minerals like iron and zinc, which some people don’t get enough of in their diet. Dairy sources are excellent because, along with protein, you get calcium, riboflavin and vitamin D,” she said. “Vegetarian sources of protein like tofu provide some really heart-healthy fats and some cancer-fighting compounds called isoflavones. Eggs top the list as the best source of protein because they have the profile of amino acids that exactly match our needs.”

While it is possible to meet nutrition needs without eating animal protein, it does require paying close attention to food labels and making sure you get all necessary nutrients, said Dr. Dennis Savaiano, professor in the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue University.

When choosing foods that are sustainable for the planet, consider how the food is grown. Dr. Jude Capper is a Best Food Facts expert and independent livestock consultant who studies sustainability. She notes that livestock farmers have become more efficient and use fewer natural resources to raise animals.

“As the population grows and competes with agriculture for land, energy and water resources, the need to improve efficiency and productivity becomes ever more crucial. This can only be achieved by continuing specialization and intensification,” she said. For instance, chickens have been bred to reach market rate in a shorter amount of time. That means the chickens use fewer resources to grow.

Our experts have also shared tips for reducing food waste, which can benefit the environment.

The foods you choose can have an impact on the environment. Consider a number of factors that affect sustainability of food production and keep nutritional needs in mind.

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