Cows, Corn, and Crap

The food system—from fertilizer manufacturing to production and distribution to food waste in landfills—is responsible for 25 – 30% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Agriculture is also uniquely threatened by climate change.  As a result, there is growing consensus that the food system—what we eat and how we grow it—requires major change in order to protect our health, farmworkers, environment and the climate. Peter Lehner will discuss how agricultural policies and practices can make the sector carbon-neutral, while also making rural communities more livable, equitable, and sustainable.

Peter Lehner manages two farms in Central America and directs Earthjustice’s Sustainable Food & Farming Program, developing strategies to promote a more environmentally sound agricultural system.

From 2007–2015, Peter was the Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. There, among other new initiatives, Peter shaped a clean food program with food waste, antibiotic-free meat, regional food, and climate mitigation projects. He earlier served as the chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s office from 1999-2006, and  started and led the Environmental Prosecution Unit of the New York City Law Department.