Bicentennial Mini-Science: Connecting the dots: Envisioning a sustainable future food system

With Graham MacDonald, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography, McGill University

Food systems, meaning the complex ways we are linked to food production, distribution, and consumption, are under immense pressure to both reduce environmental impacts and climate change contributions while also meeting the growing and changing demand for food globally. While diverse sustainability solutions have been proposed to address these challenges at different scales, considerable uncertainty remains about their scalability, efficacy, as well as their desirability for society. This talk will examine the current state of food systems and look to the future with examples of key opportunities as well as key unknowns about the future of food and agriculture this century.

Dr. Graham MacDonald is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at McGill University and the current director of McGill’s Sustainability, Science, and Society (SSS) interfaculty Bachelor of Arts and Science program. His research explores agricultural sustainability and food systems, with a particular focus on linking production and consumption activities. His research spans scales from local urban farming to global croplands.

The Mini-Science series is brought to you with the generous support of the Trottier Family Foundation.