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Have you heard of the Future Food Lab? It puts the minds of university researchers, students, and caterer together to create a vision for a more sustainable canteen. You can learn more about it, and how you could contribute, here.

When talking about the negative effects that humanity has on the planet, biodiversity is a topic that comes up very frequently, and with very good reason! Biodiversity – i.e. the variety of animal and plant life in the world – is rapidly declining, and as sad as it is that humanity will be having less friends with leaves, paws, or wings... this also has consequences for our ability to feed ourselves in an agricultural system that – as Merel Soons, Professor of Plant Dispersal Ecology & Nature Conservation at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, explains – “is entirely dedicated to achieving the lowest possible costs and the highest possible output”.

What are the facts?

As explained by the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO), of all the 6,000 plant species that can be cultivated for food, less than 200 of them significantly contribute to global food production (n.d). Furthermore, the populations of species that provide valuable services to us like butterflies, bees, and birds, have been declining very quickly. Not only are animals disappearing, but so are the ecosystems that support them such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, etc... (FAO). A lot of this loss is related to the way in which our global agricultural system is laid out.

While this might only seem to be a non-human problem, it is important that we be reminded of the fact that the rich biodiversity of the Earth is fundamentally connected to our wellbeing and our ability to live on what is nothing more than a small island in an empty ocean of stars.

How does biodiversity support our food production?

There is still a lot to be learned about the relationship between food production and biodiversity, but when looking at what we DO know, we will realize that biodiversity should be preserved not just for its own sake, but our own as well. All species have their place, role, and purpose in an ecosystem, ranging from birds and bees’ helping to pollinate plants, earthworms and fungi keeping soils fertile, to other organisms keeping trees healthy, fighting diseases, purifying our water and our air, etc… (FAO). These benefits are what has been allowing our species to live and prosper, and they have been taken for granted for too long.

Impact of agriculture on biodiversity

The impact that our agricultural system has had on biodiversity is related to two of its main traits:

1.       Our focus on monocultures (large-scale growing of only one plant)

Our focus on only growing and raising a limited number of species prioritized their flourishing over thousands of others, reducing their numbers (Deutsche Welle, 2011). As much as we have been focusing on fewer species and monocultures to make our production process as efficient as possible, this has come at a high cost for the quality of our soils, and the strength of the natural barriers that protect our crops. This is a man-made problem which we have been trying to make up for with a man-made solution: aka fertilisers and pesticides.

2.       Our excessive use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers

We use pesticides and fertilisers because we are so afraid that nature (such as weeds, predators and pests) will harm our production, but sometimes this can do more harm than good. The most famous example of this is the critical decline of bee populations due to chemicals used on our crops, leading to a mortality rate of 20% in Europe. And yet, about a third of the food that we produce depends on bees and their pollination (Naidoo, 2014).

This self-sabotage of our own system shows how closed the world is to the wonderful ways in which our way of working could be combined with Mother Earth’s.

How the human and natural world could be better integrated together

All species play their part in their ecosystems. Why should we not respect them and cherish them for the services that they offer us, just as you would cherish a friend who did you a favour? This is not to mention the fact that the benefits that can be gained from valuing biodiversity in our way of producing food could be huge! There might be lots of nature-friendly production methods out there that could be much more sustainable. We may simply not have been open to them, but that will change. For example:

1. Saying no to monocultures

Instead of growing monocultures, a tactic as simple as growing certain beans alongside maize has been shown to increase crop productivity, help protect the crops from drought, and improve the quality of the soil (Naidoo).  Planting crops next to each other would also help farmers spread their production risk (Deutsche Welle), in a world where harvests will become increasingly unpredictable due to the Climate Crisis.

2. Saying yes to more animals

More room could be made for animal life in our food systems as well. It has been proposed that instead of relying so much on pesticides, we could let the borders of fields grow wild to host insects and birds, which would in turn help fight pests in a way that Mother Nature intended (Deutsche Welle).

What has Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� - and the Green Office - been doing?

Some would argue that the loss of biodiversity is an unavoidable sacrifice when it comes to food production, making the maintenance of biodiversity and the production of food two goals that cannot co-exist. Research into how to address this conflict is urgently required however, as the more we cement ourselves on the current path, the more it will be hard to leave it in the future. This is why Utrecht (and other Dutch) ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� researchers are dedicating themselves to this topic.

There are several projects at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� which are held precisely to figure out how to grow the food of the future. One such project is UU BioCliVE, which mimics ecosystems of the future in order to understand how biodiversity can act as a buffer between ecosystems and climate change.

The Green Office is also addressing this problem in its own way. For example, through the Future Food Lab project, which seeks to make the Educatorium Restaurant the most sustainable student restaurant in the Netherlands, placing sustainable food, exhibitions, and awareness campaigns at the core of the eating experience.

The Green Office is Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��’s central sustainability hub where fresh minds and hands come together to support Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��’s sustainable development. We make the university’s policy tangible in the everyday reality of its students and staff members by informing them, involving them and empowering them to act.

Sources

Bellarby, J., Foereid, B., & Hastings, A. (2008). Cool Farming: Climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential.

Deutsche Welle. (2011, November 21). Biodiversity and its effect on food supply. Retrieved from

FAO. (n.d.). The biodiversity that is crucial for our food and agriculture is disappearing by the day. Retrieved from

Naidoo, K. (2014, May 22). The food system we choose affects biodiversity: Do we want monocultures? Retrieved from