Green Pulse Ep 8: How climate change affects our food supply

13 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change. 

This episode educates more on the link between food and climate change, and how small actions, from wasting less food or eating more vegetables instead of meat, can help.

This month, ST’s environment correspondent Audrey Tan and assistant foreign editor David Fogarty chats with Professor William Chen, the Michael Fam Chair Professor and Director of NTU Food Science & Technology Programme, on the link between climate change and Singapore’s food supply. 

As a small island-state, Singapore does not have the space to accommodate acres of farmland. It imports more than 90 per cent of its food. In 2018, 53% of Singapore’s food supply was imported from Asean nations, according to the Singapore Food Agency.

In August, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted how climate change and poor land management practices threaten the world's farmlands and food security.

Global warming, for example, could affect the types of crops grown in the tropics, making food security an issue of concern for Singapore. 

Produced by: Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg) & David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg)

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter

Follow David Fogarty on Twitter

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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