At the United Nations Food Systems summit in September 2021, sustainability was front and center, as discussion focused on how to transform food systems to be part of the solutions to climate change. Currently, it is estimated that 35% of global carbon emissions come from food systems. This includes loss of carbon sequestration in agricultural areas, fossil fuels needed to harvest, transport, and refrigerate agricultural products, and fossil fuels used in synthetic fertilizers. The food systems of tomorrow must be sustainable and climate-friendly. Much of the work going on across schools and institutions at Tufts aims to accomplish this.
Center for International Environment and Resource Policy is made of faculty and students from across the schools at Tufts, to explore and advocate for the economic and social transformation to more sustainable systems.
Tufts CREATE Solutions is an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students from across Tufts that does innovative climate research, attempting to integrate technological, sociological, and environmental components in its work.
Academic departments and programs such as the Agriculture, Food, and Environment program at the Friedman School, the Environmental Sustainability Lab at the School of Engineering, the Department of Environmental and Population Health at the Cummings School, and the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at the School of Arts and Sciences are all examples of education at Tufts focused on putting sustainability in the center of complex systems.
The Sustainability Committee at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts is an example of a student-led group that interfaces with faculty and school administrators to promote and operate environmentally-conscious initiatives at the School. Being stewards of the environment is an important part of being an active part of food systems.