Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.
New Data Show Regenerative Practices Outperform Conventional Farming in Europe
A new study by the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA) finds that farmers can produce “significantly more food for less” by transitioning to regenerative agriculture, compared to average conventional practices.
According to the report, input-intensive conventional farming, which focuses on short-term yield gains at the cost of planetary health, will not be able to meet Europe’s challenges around soil health degradation, biodiversity loss, lack of food sovereignty, and climate stability. Regenerating forms of agriculture, the study finds, are “not only viable but already superior in most contexts” to conventional practices.
The report, supported by EIT Food, assessed 78 farms in 14 countries, covering more than 7,000 hectares. Farms employing regenerative agricultural systems—from agroforestry to holistic management to conservation agriculture—achieved 1 percent lower yields on average while using 62 percent less synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and 76 percent less pesticides.
The study found regenerative farms had over 15 percent higher photosynthesis, soil cover, and plant diversity compared to neighboring conventional farms, and maintained cooler surface temperatures during summer. Researchers estimate that if scaled, these practices could mitigate 141.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually—around 84 percent of net emissions from the EU’s agricultural sector. Regenerative farms also demonstrated 27 percent higher productivity than the average European farmer based on a new metric, the Regenerating Full Productivity Index, which captures both agronomic and ecological outcomes.
These outcomes refute the assumption that only conventional, synthetic, input-heavy agriculture can feed Europe, and demonstrate that Europe’s food security is in fact dependent on a symbiotic and innovative relationship with nature, according to EIT Food.
HHS Secretary Kennedy Removes All Members of CDC Vaccine Committee
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel responsible for making national vaccine recommendations.
Kennedy announced the dismissal in an HHS press release and in a Wall Street Journal opinion column, where Kennedy argued that a “clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science”. Kennedy also noted in the column that around two-thirds of the panel had been appointed in the last year of the Biden administration.
ACIP wields enormous influence, according to the New York Times. The independent vaccine committee holds public meetings to review the latest scientific evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness and to make clinical recommendations to the CDC. Their guidance affects which groups will be recommended vaccines, when and how often they should get them and whether health insurance will cover costs.
As HHS Secretary, Kennedy has the authority to dismiss and appoint ACIP members. But the decision contradicts precedent and has been widely decried by doctors’ groups and public health organizations. Global health and bioethics experts could not remember an entire committee being dismissed en masse since the group’s establishment in 1964, and said it was highly unusual for an HHS Secretary to take party politics into account. The American Medical Association said the move “upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.” Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics called the decision “an unmitigated public health disaster,” warning it will deepen mistrust in vaccines.
HHS said the upcoming ACIP meeting, scheduled for June 25 through 27, will proceed as planned. It’s not yet clear who Kennedy will tap to fill the now-vacant seats on the committee, though HHS says new members are under consideration.
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association has real concerns about whether future committee members will be impartial and says the organization plans to watch Kennedy “like a hawk.” Senator Bill Cassidy says that now “the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.”
New Data Show Key Crops Could Lose Half the Best Land for Production by 2100
New projections from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that five out of nine staple and cash crops, including coffee and wheat, could lose half of their “best or optimally suitable land” over the next 75 years.
The findings come from an updated version of FAO’s Adaptation, Biodiversity, and Carbon Mapping Tool (ABC-Map), which now includes a new crop suitability indicator. The indicator incorporates data from a study from French fintech firm Finres, which uses a novel method to assess agricultural land suitability under different emissions scenarios.
To use the ABC-Map, a user can input a location and crop, and the tool displays the suitability of the selected crop in that area for various time periods. While the app previously only displayed information on past trends in a given area, the new indicator adds information on future trends for time periods stretching to 2100 and provides a crop suitability score for two different climate emission scenarios.
New data indicates that coffee production in key regions may decline sharply by the end of the century, while wheat and bean yields are expected to fall in areas such as North America and Europe. Although maize and rice may find new suitable areas in the near term, researchers caution that these gains could reverse if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.
The new indicator is intended to help policymakers and project designers better understand long-term climate risks and plan accordingly.
Kenya Takes Action to Address Diet-Related Diseases
Kenya’s Ministry of Health is introducing new measures to address the growing burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity—by reinforcing Kenya’s food policy framework.
Africa is currently witnessing an epidemiological shift, resulting in more and more countries on the continent declaring NCDs a public health concern. The Global Nutrition Report shows that rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity are on the rise in Kenya.
The Ministry is introducing a package of regulatory and policy measures, including a Nutrient Profile Model to establish thresholds for nutrients that are linked to the rise of NCDs in Kenya, like sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. Officials say the model will help regulate food content and steer public consumption habits in a healthier direction, especially among children who are often the most vulnerable.
The government also plans to intensify efforts against the marketing and consumption of unhealthy foods, with a strong focus on protecting children from harmful dietary influences. Officials are also considering broader policies to limit access to sugar-sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods.
Meanwhile, a collaborative team including Kenya’s Ministry of Health has developed an AI model that forecasts acute child malnutrition up to six months in advance, providing decision-makers with critical lead time to respond to nutrition crises.
Over 2,500 NIH Grants Canceled or Delayed Under Trump Administration
New reporting from The New York Times takes a closer look at the 2,500 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that have been canceled or delayed under the Trump-Vance administration.
NIH grants are typically paid out annual installments. Recipients submit annual reports to the NIH, which then has the opportunity to continue funding the project, or terminate it. In the past, the New York Times reports, annual renewals were routine. On average, the agency has terminated fewer than 20 grants per year for the past decade, generally for extenuating circumstances.
Since January 20, 2025, NIH has terminated nearly 2,100 research grants worth around US$9.5 billion and US$2.6 billion in contracts, and delayed nearly 1,100 additional projects.
According to a current NIH program officer, when selecting grants to cancel or delay earlier this year, the agency scoured current projects for words and phrases like “transgender,” “misinformation,” “vaccine hesitancy,” and “equity.”
The terminated awards include grants for research on topics such as disinformation and misinformation, improving access to mental health care rural communities, reducing maternal mortality among Black women, and preventing gun violence in Asian American communities. Funding has also been cancelled for research on cures and treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell disease. And, court documents and internal correspondence show that some grants and contracts were cut on orders from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The cuts have sparked national backlash: 300 NIH staff members sent NIH Director Jayanta Bhattacharya a letter decrying the mass termination of jobs at the agency and its cancellation of thousands of research projects. Titled The Bethesda Declaration, the letter calls on NIH and HHS leadership to deliver on commitments of academic freedom and scientific excellence. Over 24,000 people, including over 50 Nobel laureates, have signed a separate open letter in support of the Declaration since it was made public.
An end to the cuts is not on the horizon: Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 calls for unprecedented cuts to scientific agencies that which includes cutting the NIH’s budget by about 40 percent and collapsing its 27 institutes and centers into 8.
According to Harold Varmus, the former N.I.H. director, a budget cut of that scale would be truly draconian, and could drive scientists overseas or out of science altogether. Luzmariel Medina-Sanchez—who had been studying how a microbe can help treat celiac disease until her NIH grant was cancelled—told the New York Times that, because of her name, she does not feel that she will be able to be a professional in the field of science in this country. While questioning Bhattacharya during a recent Senate hearing, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), described that Trump is systematically dismantling the American biomedical research enterprise that is the envy of the world.
New Data Shows Deforestation Slowing in Parts of the Amazon
Data from Colombia and Brazil show signs of progress in efforts to curb deforestation across the Amazon, despite ongoing environmental and political challenges.
The world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon covers 6.7 million sq km and spans nine countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. It is home to a third of the world’s species, a quarter of the world’s freshwater, and 200 indigenous and traditional communities. Its trees hold 48 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
But the area has historically been exploited and it’s estimated that roughly 20 percent of the Amazon Rainforest has disappeared during the past 50 years. Cattle ranching is the primary culprit of deforestation in every Amazon country, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Other key drivers include road building, mining, and cultivation of products like soy or coca—over 90 percent of which is done illegally. In recent years, large parts of the Amazon are also being ravaged by rampant wildfires and extreme drought.
However, during the first quarter of 2025, deforestation in the Colombian Amazon dropped by 33 percent compared to the same period in 2024, according to the country’s Environment Ministry. Deforestation in Colombian national parks fell by 54 percent. Environment Minister Lena Estrada Añokazi attributes the progress to greater community coordination — including with local Indigenous governments — and a crackdown on environmental crime.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon similarly fell by 30.6 percent in last year, reaching its lowest level in nine years, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
Meanwhile, a government pilot program in Brazil’s Pará state is tagging cattle with ear chips to prevent grazing on illegally deforested land. The program aims to tag all 26 million cattle in the state by 2027 and rancher Roque Quagliato—dubbed Brazil’s “King of Cattle”—was the first to participate, marking a potential shift toward more traceable and sustainable cattle farming ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Brazil later this year.
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Photo courtesy of Quang Nguyen Vinh, Unsplash
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