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As 2020 draws to a close, I'd like to take a moment to look back at an unprecedented year & stories I'm particularly proud of. I feel really privileged to cover my passion topics of #food & #climatechange which I'm convinced are going to be even more critical in 2021 (THREAD)
1. Free of #COVID19 worries but acutely aware of agriculture's carbon footprint, I opened 2020 looking at potential of #soils to tackle #hunger & reduce #emissions, from #Burma & #Britain to U.S. #Midwest w. @crawfordjohnw @ProximityDesign & @vargasfao https://news.trust.org/item/20200103052734-1okta (1)
2. In Feb, key meeting on U.N. negotiations to protect #nature under @UNBiodiversity were held in Rome. Halting shocking declines in animal & plant life took on new meaning amid #pandemic but this lays out key issues even before the topic became hip https://news.trust.org/item/20200227122340-wic07/ (2)
3. Throughout March, I spoke to Italian farmers struggling due to lockdowns. Then bad weather hit them. This piece w. @MickSTaylor laid out how #COVID19 and #climatechange are threat multipliers & how such risks are converging https://news.trust.org/item/20200401122142-1kxvq (3)
4. Late April. 1+ month into lockdowns, job losses are mounting & disposable income is shrinking in many parts of #Africa. Data from @IFPRI showed #poverty could spike, so @kimharrisberg and I spoke to experts & ordinary folks to sound a warning bell https://news.trust.org/item/20200424134126-cpxhs/ (4)
5. By May, key global meets on oceans, forests & species postponed to 2021. Fears rose of #lockdowns hampering conservation efforts. But some also hope #pandemic would push humans into healthier relationship with #nature. Jury's still out I think... https://news.trust.org/item/20200521051803-9x401/ (5)
6. Long queues at food banks around the world. #coronavirus laid bare challenges to ending global #hunger. Tackling this = people must gain control over food supply chain, new U.N. special rapporteur on right to food @MichaelFakhri told me in late May https://news.trust.org/item/20200528125139-yqp75/ (6)
7. Food systems account for about ⅕ of global #emissions but a massive imbalance between rich & poor nations in access to nutritious diets. Better food for world's poor might mean some countries have to increase emissions, said a July U.N. report https://news.trust.org/item/20200713163933-u8qje/ (7)
8. In this late-July story, I documented some of the inspiring Black women @karwasher @soulfirefarm @ugrowcollective fighting 'food apartheid' in U.S., a long-standing issue on dietary #inequity that came into focus due to #BlackLivesMatter 
protests https://longreads.trust.org/item/black-urban-community-farmers-uproot-food-apartheid-united-states (8)
protests https://longreads.trust.org/item/black-urban-community-farmers-uproot-food-apartheid-united-states (8)
9. In September, I looked at how sales of #plantbased meats soared during #pandemic & reasons behind it, visited an Icelandic greenhouse, spoke to consumers& folks at @GoodFoodInst, and asked, will #COVID-19 change our relationship with #meat? http://longreads.trust.org/item/pandemic-climate-eat-green-food-covid-19 (9)
10. Not all impacts from #COVID-19 lockdowns were negative. One silver lining? Less food waste in rich countries as consumers become much more conscious of what they bin & campaigners like @refed & @WRAP_UK hope the practices would stick #foodwaste https://news.trust.org/item/20200930123157-x67gu/ (10)
11. When we talk about #emissions from #foodsystems often it's CO2 (machinery, land use, etc) & methane (livestock), but this October study led by @pepcanadell shone a light on critical #nitrogen emissions rising fast due to rampant #fertiliser use https://news.trust.org/item/20201007140756-wim1n (11)
12. Early in 2020, #EU said it aim to get to #netzero by 2050. This is now “in tatters” after lawmakers voted in late Oct to continue supporting planet-harming farming practices, green MEPs & campaigners @GretaThunberg @IPESfood @BirdLifeEurope said https://news.trust.org/item/20201023161954-it46n/ (12)
13. In Nov, I spoke to farmers in #Malawi, #Zimbabwe and #Italy to see how they are coping with #climatechange. Short answer – not very well. Data from a new @UCL paper shows things will get worse for poor nations #hunger #agriculture #farming https://news.trust.org/item/20201127060404-war57/ (13)
14. Full circle for my year-end piece – looking back at 2020 and how #climatechange & #COVID19 exposed cracks in our current #foodsystems which for far too long have focused on productivity instead of nutrition, nature and equity. Can we change this? https://news.trust.org/item/20201227080204-3652n/ (14)
15. Last, but definitely not least, is a piece v. different to how/what I write in my day job. This is an intensely personal essay for @kitetalesMM on how #cooking & #food helped me cope with homesickness during #covid19 #lockdown & much of 2020 https://kite-tales.org/en/article/finding-home-bowl-noodles (15)
While selecting stories for this list, I discovered I wrote nearly 100 pieces this past year, incl. on other topics, despite being stuck in an apt. in Rome. I’m aware how fortunate I am to be able to do that & collaborate w. fab colleagues in different countries & continents (16)
Special thanks to @lauriegoering & @meganrowling for superb guidance & editing. I’m committed to continue covering the 2 most critical issues of our time – #climatechange & #foodsecurity. Thanks so much for reading my stories & this thread. Here’s to a better 2021! (ENDS) #hunger
