{"id":2681,"date":"2025-01-27T15:06:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/?p=2681"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:55:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:55:01","slug":"what-will-we-eat-in-2050","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\/","title":{"rendered":"What will we eat in 2050?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Scientists and policymakers fear that by 2050, the world won\u2019t be able to produce enough food to support its population. We need sustainable solutions, and biologist Chandra Jack is quite literally digging for them. Jack studies plant microbe interactions, examining how microbes influence traits such as when a plant flowers or whether it can compete against neighboring vegetation, and applies that knowledge to benefit society through sustainable agriculture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Biology<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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How can farmers use microbes to increase crop yields?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if we can feed the world now, in 20 years we won\u2018t be able to unless we make some significant changes,\u201d Jack<\/a> says. By studying how microbe interactions affect plant traits, Jack hopes to contribute to the development of new, more sustainable ways to increase food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forthcoming food crisis dates to the 1950s, when synthetic fertilizers were a major technological advance and, along with the development of new crops, allowed farmers to produce significantly more food.

Since then, researchers have discovered that synthetic fertilizers are environmentally and economically costly, according to Jack, who wants to understand how to make healthier soil to benefit people and the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cResearchers want to use microbes to replace synthetic fertilizers,\u201d Jack says. \u201cWe know what they can do in the lab. We don\u2019t know what they can do in the wild or the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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department of biology<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
School of Climate, Environment and Society<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biologist Chandra Jack studies plant microbe interactions, examining how microbes influence traits such as when a plant flowers or whether it can compete against neighboring vegetation, and applies that knowledge to sustainable agriculture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"research-initiaive","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[66,45],"class_list":["post-2681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlights","tag-department-of-biology","tag-school-of-climate-environment-and-society"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat will we eat in 2050? | Clark University | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What will we eat in 2050?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Biologist Chandra Jack studies plant microbe interactions, examining how microbes influence traits such as when a plant flowers or whether it can compete against neighboring vegetation, and applies that knowledge to sustainable agriculture.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Clark University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-27T20:06:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Jack-Plant-Microbe-Interactions.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Meredith King\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"What will we eat in 2050?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-27T20:06:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":235,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Jack-Plant-Microbe-Interactions.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Biology\",\"School of Climate Environment and Society\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Research Highlights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/what-will-we-eat-in-2050\\\/\",\"name\":\"What will we eat in 2050? 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