Firms embrace innovation in food to reduce reliance on animals and water

Our food systems, including agriculture, land use and methane emissions, mostly from cattle, account for roughly a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions. Among the solutions to reducing them? A more plant-based diet, with less meat consumption. Our America: Climate of Hope went searching for the most innovative solutions to reduce dependence on animals and water.

We found companies that are reimagining traditional agriculture, increasing access to locally produced food.

A company called Plenty is building a large indoor farm in Compton, California, providing fresh lettuce and produce to Los Angeles area grocery stores.

And alternative meat burgers like the "Impossible Burger" emit nearly 87 percent less emissions than a ground beef patty and take less water and land to produce.

One Bay Area tech company, Eat Just, Inc. is recreating the chicken and egg in a lab.

Innovators are even looking for ways to reduce the methane produced by cows, mainly through cow burps, which account for one-third of methane emissions from agriculture in the United States. They are doing so by feeding them seaweed for easier digestion.

When it comes to farming, one of the biggest innovations is going back to basics. Regenerative farming is based on a traditional rotation of crops and animals that creates healthy soil that absorbs methane from the atmosphere and creates more nutritious food in the process.

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