Food Systems

As Arizona’s Land Grant University, UArizona has spent years equipping students, local Arizonans and others around the world with the agricultural and resource management tools they need to adapt to the food supply and food security challenges of the future.

Our research

Plant-Based Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Week, Wildcats! It’s no secret that as populations and incomes increase around the world, agriculture and other food systems have been working hard to feed the world’s people. However, some food industries (specifically meat processing industries) have huge carbon footprints and emit carbon into the atmosphere at alarming rates. In fact, In fact, Diana Liverman, director of the School of Geography & Development, states that "people think about controlling greenhouse gas emissions, they usually think of fossil use, like having fewer coal-powered plants, or driving more fuel-efficient cars, but not many realize that the food system contributes to greenhouse gas emissions". Because pressure has been put on the United States and other countries to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, these food production practices must change -- and we can start this week!

How To Have Your Solar Farm And Keep Your Regular Farm, Too

Clean, abundant, solar power comes with a price. It requires lots of land, and in some places that's provoking opposition from people who want to preserve farmland.

Selecting plants for your Tucson garden

Fall is coming, and with it comes the best season for planting in your garden. This is a great time to evaluate your garden space and decide what you want to plant. Whether it’s trees, shrubs, perennials, or annual wildflowers, you probably want to pick out some new plants for your garden.

Thinking Outside the Box

Indoor ag brings consumers closer with controlled-climate growing.

How a 30-ton robot could help crops withstand climate change


Arizona has what researchers call ‘the climate of tomorrow, today.’ Scientists are using a 30-ton robotic field scanner in the state to study plant genetics and hopefully develop stress-resilient crops. 

Zoom meeting on computer

Recap of June 2020 Co-InFEWS Workshop

A recap of the Co-InFEWS Workshop hosted online during the week of June 15, 2020, where Indigenous community members, scholars and representatives from federal and tribal agencies met to collaborate on ideas and share experiences about the nexus of food, energy and water systems.

Agrivoltaics works better with leafy greens, root crops

U.S. researchers have created a new model to assess the overlap between solar potential and underlying land use. The areas with the largest potential are the western United States, southern Africa, and the Middle East. The researchers concluded that croplands, grasslands, and wetlands are the top three land classes for PV projects linked to agricultural activities, while barren terrain, traditionally prioritized for solar PV system installation, ranked fifth.

Op-ed: Migrant Farmworkers, Native Ranchers in Border States Hit Hardest by COVID-19

An agricultural ecologist points to systemic racism resulting in a devastating lack of response to the pandemic.

Women in Produce

Award-winning microbiologist Channah Rock is in the business of keeping our food safe. Fortunately for us, she loves her job.