Crop Diversity: A Tasty Way for Keeping Our Options Open

The Unlocking Climate Solutions: Embracing Nature and Agricultural Heritage event was held at Mindspace in Brooklyn, New York City. Photo: Bailey Cate/Crop Trust

On 19 September, scientists, policymakers and other crop diversity enthusiasts, flocked to Mindspace in Williamsburg, one of Brooklyn’s foodiest neighborhoods, to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time—how to protect our food from the ravages of climate change.

Crop diversity is often overlooked in climate discussions, yet it’s crucial to adaptation: we need diverse crops to meet the needs of current and future generations. The climate crisis poses a grave threat to global food systems. Crop failures and poor yields mean lost and blighted lives, migration, and conflict. We must act to adapt agriculture to climate change, or risk disaster.