Clean Food: The Next Clean Energy Revolution

Abstract

The world is in the throes of a clean energy revolution. This revolution has led to the ongoing demise of coal, and a shift towards clean and efficient energy sources like wind and solar. Despite these advances, the process of producing food for human energy remains extraordinarily dirty and inefficient. This Essay explores what it would look like to graft clean energy policy onto the human food system. It discusses what is wrong with the standards by which we currently evaluate food policy and how we might apply a clean human energy or "clean food" standard instead. It concludes that building a clean food grid should be the next clean energy revolution.