Dr. Rob Newell

Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability at Royal Roads University

Biography

Dr. Rob Newell is the Canada Research Chair (tier 2) in Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability at Royal Roads University and a Research Associate at the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley. Newell’s research and teaching focuses on critical sustainability issues (particularly climate change and biodiversity loss), as well as different approaches for addressing these issues and their respective advantages and disadvantages. Much of Newell’s work over the last couple of years has focused on food systems, exploring challenges and opportunities around various strategies and technologies for transitioning to sustainable and resilient food systems.

The Possible Futures of Food: Food Systems Sustainability Challenges and Implications of Emerging Food Production Methods

Food systems are both linked to and extremely threatened by the critical environmental challenges facing our planet today, such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, land system change, and disruptions to the nutrient cycle. Many argue that changes are needed in how food is produced and distributed in order to make progress toward resilient food systems and a sustainable future. Emerging food production technologies and techniques, such as vertical farming and cellular agriculture, have captured people’s imaginations in terms of new opportunities for developing high-yield agriculture with shorter supply chains and lower environmental footprints. However, simply developing and using technology is not a sustainable solution, and depending on how these technologies/techniques are implemented, novel food production methods could either contribute to sustainable food systems or reproduce many of our current problems. This presentation looks at the different possible ‘futures of food’ that may arise as communities and societies adopt new agricultural technologies and food production methods, focusing particularly on vertical and cellular agriculture. The presentation discusses current concerns and debates on sustainable food production, and it explores the different environmental, social, cultural, and economic considerations around emerging agricultural technologies and their potential to contribute (or further complicate) transitions to sustainable and resilient food systems.

 

All sessions

The Possible Futures of Food: Food Systems Sustainability Challenges and Implications of Emerging Food Production Methods

  • 5 October, 2022
  • 10:15am - 11:30am
  • Main Hall - Columbia Valley Centre