98th ESA Annual Meeting (August 4 -- 9, 2013)

August 03 - 09, 2013

IGN 1

Realizing a Resilient Food System

How can we build a more resilient food system? Researchers working on leading-edge topics from plant breeding to agroecosystem management to global food security will ignite ideas on this question. Each will explore unique perspectives on how to move ecological knowledge about food systems onto the policy table, into the fields, and onto our dinner plates. With agriculture covering about 40 percent of Earth’s terrestrial surface, what we eat and how and where we produce food has cascading ecological effects of critical importance for human well-being. Building resilience into our food systems has never been more important due to climate change, market volatility, and a growing global population. At the same time, we are presented with contrasting visions for the future of food systems by different sectors of society. There is a growing awareness of the importance of taking an ecological approach to solving food system challenges, such as global food crises, emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds, rising fossil fuel prices, and increased frequency of extreme weather events. We are at a tipping point for converting this increased awareness into policy and action. To increase our chances of capturing this unique opportunity to learn from the past and shape the future, we need a vision of how to move toward realizing more resilient food systems. Emphasizing solutions, speakers will distill what they see as the key research and action priorities to help all ecologists engage in this important dialogue that spans disciplinary and regional boundaries.