Bad Idea #16 "let's ditch intensive farming" with Michael Grunwald

🔍 Episode Summary:

Is industrial agriculture the villain it's made out to be? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with award-winning journalist and author Michael Grunwald to explore Bad Idea #16: "We need to ditch intensive agriculture."

Grunwald, whose latest book We Are Eating the Earth dives deep into the global land crisis, makes the provocative case that abandoning intensive agriculture in favour of romanticised low-yield farming could be catastrophic for both climate and biodiversity. They unpack the real trade-offs behind organic and regenerative farming, expose the hidden environmental costs of biofuels and biomass, and explain why yield and land-use efficiency must be at the heart of any serious green food policy.

If you're passionate about climate, nature, or what ends up on your plate, this conversation will challenge your assumptions — and give you new tools for thinking about agriculture, food systems, and the future of the planet.

🧠 Topics Discussed:

● 🗺️ Why land, not just carbon, is the key environmental constraint of our time

● 🌽 Corn ethanol, biomass power and the case against biofuels

●🕵️How global institutions like the IPCC got food and land use wrong

● 🤔 The myth of regenerative agriculture as a climate solution

●🥩 Beef, land use and the real environmental cost of meat

● 🌾 Why high-yield agriculture is essential to save nature

● 🧬 Cultivated meat, GMOs and other high-tech food fixes

● 🤯 Sri Lanka's organic farming disaster: a cautionary tale

● 🌍 The moral case for better — not just different — agriculture

👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:

Michael Grunwald is a long-time investigative journalist and bestselling author of The Swamp and The New New Deal. His new book, We Are Eating the Earth, tackles the global agricultural land crunch and the myths we tell ourselves about food, farming, and the environment. A former senior writer for Politico, Time, and The Washington Post, Grunwald lives in Miami and has received numerous awards for his reporting.

📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:

•  We Are Eating the Earth – Michael Grunwald

💬 Quote Highlights:

"Every farm, even the most romantic organic one, is a kind of environmental crime scene." — Michael Grunwald

"The idea that regenerative ag can reverse climate change is a nice story — but it's not backed by science or math." — Michael Grunwald

"The goal isn't to make farming pretty. The goal is to make food with less land, so we can spare nature." — Michael Grunwald

"If we don’t double yields again, we’re going to need a second planet." — Michael Grunwald

🌐 About WePlanet:

WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at weplanet.org.

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