Sam Eaton, a freelance radio and video producer who contributed 10 of the features in the “Food for 9 Billion” project, has won the Society of Environmental Journalists‘ award for Environmental Beat Reporting in a …
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The Homelands Blog
Alan Weisman: Have fewer kids
This month, as part of a special issue on the environment, VICE Magazine asked leading thinkers to weigh in with their ideas about what to do about climate change. Below is Homelands’ Alan Weisman‘s essay, based …
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The Homelands Blog
Big year coming (you can help!)
Before we say goodbye to 2014 we thought we’d give you a sneak peek at what we’re cooking up for the year to come. If you feel it’s worth supporting, far be it from us to stand …
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The Homelands Blog
Alan Weisman’s “Countdown” launches today
We’re thrilled to announce the publication of Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, by Homelands senior producer and co-founder Alan Weisman. You should be able to find it in bookshops today, and if …
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The Homelands Blog
“Food for 9 Billion” wraps with an “alt meat” tour of the Netherlands
In the final story in the “Food for 9 Billion” project, Jon Miller races around the Netherlands hunting for climate-friendly alternatives to meat. The piece airs today on PRI’s The World. “Food for 9 Billion” was …
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The Homelands Blog
New stories give poop on climate-friendly food production
The latest batch of “What’s for Lunch” stories on PRI’s The World highlight farming methods that don’t bust the global carbon budget. On July 25, Sam Eaton reported from northeastern India on the System of …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Intensive Lunch
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Intensive Lunch
Farmers in India say a novel way of growing rice and other crops has quadrupled yields while using less seed, water, and fertilizer. But some scientists doubt the gains are real.
Farmer Sumant Kumar reported world record rice yields on his land in Bihar using a set of techniques known as the System of Rice Intensification. Many mainstream scientists are skeptical. Photo by Sam Eaton. Farmers in India say a novel way of growing rice and other crops has quadrupled yields while using less seed, water, and fertilizer. But some scientists doubt the gains are real.
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The Homelands Blog
When it comes to feeding the world, nothing will save us
One of the goals of the “Food for 9 Billion” project has been to show that keeping our growing number of selves fed (sustainably, equitably, healthily) is more than just a technical challenge. That’s because …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Carbon-Neutral Lunch
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Carbon-Neutral Lunch
Since announcing that it would become the world’s first carbon-neutral country, Costa Rica has been a laboratory for reducing the climate impact of agriculture.
An industrial banana processing center in Costa Rica. Photo by Sam Eaton. Since announcing that it would become the world’s first carbon-neutral country, Costa Rica has been a laboratory for reducing the climate impact of agriculture. Both small and large farms have been looking for ways to decrease emissions.
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The Homelands Blog
Low-carbon lunch: Costa Rica aims for climate-friendly farming
Food production, from farm to table, generates more than a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a vicious circle, because climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing farmers today. In Costa …
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The Homelands Blog
“What’s for Lunch” takes a global tour of the future of food
Keep your ears open for a new batch of What’s for Lunch radio stories about food and climate change on PRI’s The World. The series, part of the Food for 9 Billion project that Homelands Productions is producing with the Center for …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Alt Staple Lunch
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Alt Staple Lunch
Amaranth virtually disappeared from Mexican diets after the Spanish banned it because of its use in human sacrifice rituals. Now there are efforts to bring it back for its superior nutritional qualities and its hardiness in the face of climate change.
Amaranth seedlings being grown in southern Mexico’s Tehuacan valley. The plant’s seeds are high in protein and its leaves are high in iron, vitamin C, and calcium. Photo by Sam Eaton. Amaranth virtually disappeared from Mexican diets after the Spanish banned it because of its use in human sacrifice rituals. Now there are efforts to bring it back for its superior nutritional qualities and its hardiness in the face of climate change.
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Farmers in India Find Promise in Ancient Seeds
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Farmers in India Find Promise in Ancient Seeds
In India, climate change is forcing farmers to adapt to saltwater intrusion, flooding, and droughts. Scientists are racing to breed a new generation of climate-resilient crops that can survive these changes. But many farmers are turning to the seeds that sustained their ancestors.
Researcher Debal Deb has been collecting traditional seed varieties and testing them with farmers in northeastern India. He says some of the ancient rice plants will survive in 12 feet of water for up to three months. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute and elsewhere are trying to breed traits like this into modern, high-yielding varieties. Photo by Sam Eaton. When a cyclone hits India, the sea-drenched soil can remain salty for years. You can see the evidence in the Ganges River delta, packed with more than 4 million people, four years after Cyclone Aila hit the region.
Farmers are finding that new high-yielding rice varieties are not withstanding the salty onslaught. Vegetables are also nearly impossible to grow.
The problem is expected to get worse as climate change brings higher sea levels, stronger storms, and more frequent droughts.
Scientists are racing to breed a new generation of climate-resilient crops that can survive these changes. But many farmers are turning to the seeds that sustained their ancestors.
This story was produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Producer, Reporter, Camera: Sam Eaton
Editor: Linda Peckham
Additional Editing: Adithya Sambamurthy
Transcription: Karishma Suri
Archival Footage: Oxfam International
Thanks to: Soma Saha, WWF-India Sundarbans Program
Senior Producer: Stephen Talbot
Executive Producer: Sharon Tiller -
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
In Search for Food, Singapore Looks Skyward
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
In Search for Food, Singapore Looks Skyward
In Singapore, the challenge of feeding a growing population is pushing the concept of urban farming to new heights.
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The Homelands Blog
This week: Seven stories about food and the climate
It’s the biggest week yet for the “Food for 9 Billion” project, with five stories scheduled to air on PBS NewsHour and two on PRI’s The World. Today on the NewsHour, Sam Eaton visits Costa Rica, where farmers and researchers are finding …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Costa Rica Farmers See Value in Biodiversity
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Costa Rica Farmers See Value in Biodiversity
Scientists in Costa Rica are finding that biodiversity on and around farms can increase yields, lower input needs, and provide protection against environmental stresses.
Gretchen Daily (right) of Stanford University’s Center for Conservation Biology tags a bird caught in a drift net. Daily and her colleagues have been studying the contribution of birds to pest control on Costa Rican farms. Photo by Sam Eaton. Scientists in Costa Rica are finding that biodiversity on and around farms can increase yields, lower input needs, and provide protection against environmental stresses.
This story was produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Producer, Reporter, Camera: Sam Eaton
Co-Producer: Cassandra Herrman
Editor: Linda Peckham
Additional Editing: Adithya Sambamurthy
Translation: Ambar Espinoza
Transcription: Karishma Suri
Senior Producer: Stephen Talbot
Executive Producer: Sharon Tiller -
The Homelands Blog
Cafeteria lunch: Industrial kitchens dish out climate-friendly cuisine
By now most of us know that what we eat has an impact on the environment. And so more of us are putting our money where our mouths are—or our mouths where our money is—ordering …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Vertical Lunch
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Vertical Lunch
A new super-efficient vertical farming system is producing greens for Singapore’s 5 million residents. Inventor Jack Ng hopes to increase local food security while helping cut down on the climate impact of food production.
With a footprint of about 65 square feet, each SkyGreens tower is ten times as efficient per unit of land than conventional farming methods. Photo by Sam Eaton. A new super-efficient vertical farming system is producing greens for Singapore’s 5 million residents. Inventor Jack Ng hopes to increase local food security while helping cut down on the climate impact of food production.
A video version of this story aired on PBS NewsHour.
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The Homelands Blog
“What’s for Lunch” launches on The World
For the last year and a half, the “Food for 9 Billion” project has examined the many-sided challenge of keeping ourselves fed at a time of rapid social and environmental change. Yesterday we launched a …
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The Homelands Blog
New Stories to Probe Food-Climate Connections
Reporters Jonathan Miller, Sam Eaton and Mary Kay Magistad have been in Mexico, Costa Rica, India, Singapore, China, Qatar, Uganda and the Netherlands gathering tape for a series of radio and TV stories about the future of food …
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The Homelands Blog
“Food for 9 Billion” looks to the future
The Homelands blog may have been idle, but that doesn’t mean we have been! Clearly, though, it’s time for a quick catching up. In October, Jon Miller’s feature Greece’s diet crisis aired on Marketplace as part …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Vietnam Fish Farms Look for Future-Friendly Formula
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Vietnam Fish Farms Look for Future-Friendly Formula
More than half the seafood eaten in the world today is farmed, not wild. As demand for protein soars, scientists and fish producers look to lessen the impact of factory farming.
Hung Vuong Corporation is a vertically integrated operation, controlling everything from feed production to export. Fish farming is a booming industry, and businesses and scientists are working to find ways to operate sustainably at a large scale. Photo by Sam Eaton. More than half the seafood eaten in the world today is farmed, not wild. As demand for protein soars, scientists and fish producers look to lessen the impact of factory farming.
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Graying Farmers Force Japan to Rethink Food System
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Graying Farmers Force Japan to Rethink Food System
As the average age of its farmers creeps into the 70s, Japan grapples with a question that many industrialized nations now face: Who will grow our food in the future?
A farmer in Japan prunes his fruit trees. Photo by Sam Eaton. The average age of a farmer in Japan is roughly 70 years old. That’s not a problem in its own right. Unfortunately, though, few younger people are showing an interest in taking over. And that is forcing officials, and the farmers themselves, to make some tough decisions.
This video was produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Reporter/producer: Sam Eaton
Camera: Sam Eaton and Irene Herrera
Editor: Charlotte Buchen
Local fixer: Winifred Bird
Additional field translation: Toru Seno, Yuko Ota, Lindee Hoshikawa
Series producer: Cassandra Herrman
Executive producer: Sharon Tiller -
The Homelands Blog
More food for thought on population
It was great to see National Catholic Reporter blogger Jamie Manson‘s thoughtful response to Sam Eaton’s PBS NewsHour story about food and family planning in the Philippines. It’s worth taking a look at the comments, too, …
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The Homelands Blog
Double shot of Ff9B on TV and radio today
Today is sort of a coming out for the “Food for 9 Billion” project, with features airing on American Public Media’s Marketplace and PBS NewsHour. Both stories look at the links between population growth and …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Turning the Population Tide
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Turning the Population Tide
When Filipino fishing families got access to birth control, the effects were dramatic: more food, kids in school, and a new will to defend their reefs.
