WASHINGTON, D.C. July 29, 2026 - The future of our health, our environment, and our economies may depend on one thing more than any other: food.

Today, EARTHDAY.ORG announced Food for the Earth™, a multi-year global campaign and movement dedicated to transforming food systems for people and the planet. Building on more than five decades of environmental leadership, the initiative will unite governments, businesses, farmers, scientists, educators, healthcare professionals, chefs, youth leaders, and communities to address one of the defining environmental and public health challenges of our time.

Food connects every person, every community, and every nation. It shapes our health, our environment, our economies, and our future. 

Yet today, billions of people are affected by food systems that contribute to rising rates of diet-related diseases and exposure to harmful chemicals while hundreds of millions more face hunger and food insecurity. At the same time, food systems are driving climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, water scarcity, plastic pollution, and a growing health crisis. These challenges are deeply interconnected.

Food for the Earth™ is built on the belief that transforming the way we grow, produce, distribute, consume, and value food is one of the greatest opportunities to improve human health, restore nature, strengthen food security, increase corporate transparency, and promote stronger global standards for food production.

"Our global food systems are poisoning us, starving our soil and people, and trading our future for a toxic system that calls itself food. It's time for accountability. Earth Day and our global partners are calling on governments and food manufacturers to eliminate harmful chemicals and plastics in our food, to regenerate our soil and to prevent hunger and food insecurity."

Kathleen Rogers, President, EARTHDAY.org

The campaign will also focus on helping us all understand the connection between food and public health, food security, environmental protection, and economic opportunity through education, civic engagement, and policy change. Our goal is to help people better understand how our food is produced, the chemicals and toxins it contains, and how food systems influence everything from climate and biodiversity to nutrition, community resilience, and human health. At the same time, it will accelerate solutions that restore healthy soils, strengthen local food systems, reduce food loss and waste, improve food quality, and expand access to healthy, affordable food.

The campaign is built around three interconnected priorities:

• Healthy People -Improving nutrition, strengthening school food systems, increasing food transparency, and advancing healthier food environments while raising awareness of ultra-processed foods, pesticides, plastics, and other environmental health risks, and promoting healthy dietary patterns, including more plant-based foods.

• Healthy Soils - Accelerating regenerative agriculture, restoring soil health, protecting biodiversity, conserving water resources, and supporting climate-smart farming practices that strengthen long-term food system resilience.

• Healthy Planet - Reducing food loss and waste, advancing circular food systems, strengthening local and regional food systems, reducing plastic pollution, and creating economic opportunities through more sustainable food systems.

Together, these priorities provide a roadmap for transforming food systems while delivering measurable environmental, health, and community outcomes.

"Food is where public health, environmental health and economic resilience come together. We should never have to choose between nourishing people and protecting the planet. The future will be shaped by the decisions we make today about how food is grown, produced, and valued. Food for the Earth is about accelerating that transition that work for both people and the planet."

Jillian Semaan, Global Director, Food and Environment EARTHDAY.org

Over the next decade, EARTHDAY.ORG's goal to help improve access to food produced without harmful chemicals, accelerate the transition of 100 million acres to regenerative agriculture, catalyze 10,000 community-based food system initiatives, engage one million young people as future food leaders, and contribute to cutting global food waste in half.

EARTHDAY.ORG invites governments, businesses, educators, researchers, philanthropies, farmers, and communities around the world to help transform food systems for generations to come.

EARTHDAY.ORG's mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Through programs in more than 190 countries and territories and a global network reaching more than one billion people annually, EARTHDAY.ORG works year-round to drive action on the world's most pressing environmental challenges through education, advocacy, partnerships, and public engagement.

Contact: Jillian Semaan ([email protected])