Food · Agriculture · Climate · Environment · Sustainability
What is, what could be, and how we get there.
We pair big geospatial data with deep conversations with farmers and communities to understand where and how we grow food, find the bright spots, and help what works take root.
Our research, in four steps
01 · What is
Where and how do we grow food?
We map how diverse US farming landscapes are, how past choices and policies shaped them, and what that mix means for yields, ecosystems, diets and farm livelihoods.
Where and how we grow food →
02 · What could be
Where could crops grow in the decades ahead?
We project where major crops could be grown in the decades ahead as weather, technology and markets change, and test those projections with farmers and practitioners.
Future cropscapes →
03 · What should be
What future do farmers and communities want?
In listening sessions across Georgia, farmers, eaters and community partners describe the food futures they want for their places.
Futures made together →
04 · How we get there
Which levers and pathways lead to better agrifood futures?
The buyers, programs and policies around a farm open or close its options. We look for the levers that open new pathways, starting in Georgia.
Mobilizing food systems change →New papers
- Nelson, K., Bean, B., Burchfield, E. (2026). Consistent positive associations between landscape diversity and crop yields. Global Change Biology, 32(5), e70894.
- Francois, J., Nelson, K., Burchfield, E., Rissing, A. (2025). Contexts of crop selection decisions shape changing agricultural landscape diversity in the United States. 42, 2631-2649. Agriculture and Human Values.
- Spangler, K., Rissing, A., Burchfield, E., Schumacher, B., Powell, B., Siegel, K. (2025). Nutritious monocultures? Where and how fruits and vegetables are produced in the US. 45, 100860. Global Food Security.
- Magliocca, N., Burchfield, E., Chapman Busby, E., Brantley, E., Cleveland, O., Ellenburg, W., Fischer, K., Kumar, M., Mishra, V., McGuire, D., Nair, U., Pate, A., Pathak, R., Sawadgo, W., Ribeiro da Silva, A., White, A., Williams, A., Worosz, M. (2025). Leverage points to pathways for transformation of agri-food systems. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 2(3), 035007.
