Climate Change & Agriculture - Climate change is causing extreme weather events, leading to an 80% spike in the cost of US vegetables [1] - Current agricultural practices contribute to approximately one-third (33%) of the climate problem, yet receive only a small fraction of climate finance and conversation [3] - By 2050, the world will need to produce 50% more food to feed nearly 10 billion people [1][4] Sustainable Food Systems - The challenge for agriculture is to produce more food over the next 30 years than it has in the last 12,000 years [7] - High-yield approaches to agriculture, including industrial agriculture, are necessary to produce enough food, despite their negative impacts [4][5][6] - Regenerative practices that improve soil health and animal welfare should be integrated into industrial agriculture to mitigate its negative impacts [7] - Kinder, gentler, more natural agriculture may not produce enough food and could require more land, which is not a sustainable solution [8] Policy & Economics - Farm subsidies primarily benefit wealthy farmers, and recent legislation has reduced support for food stamps [9][10] - Democrats should attach strings to farm subsidies, requiring farmers to produce more food while minimizing environmental damage [11]