FOOD FOR THOUGHT Micro Views of Sustenance: Threats & Prospects offers a micro perspective on how one part of nature—our food—is connected to climate change.

Using photomontage to create a surreal conversation between everyday foods and microscopic parts of themselves, this work ponders threats to our staple foods from: crop loss due to droughts, floods, soil loss, pests, deforestation; loss of crop nutrient value, and stresses on developing nations; the wasting of 30% of the food we produce; the shifting ranges of many crops; the shift of seasons and implications for syncing with pollinators; and the crash of insect (bee and other) populations.

At the same time, a great deal of work is underway to make agriculture a net carbon sink rather than a net carbon emitter. These images reference prospects: regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, permaculture, forest gardens; rebuilding soil through cover crops, perennials, agroforestry, no-till, plants such as azolla which have balanced atmospheric CO2 over millions of years; and small-scale efforts to develop locally viable, backyard grains. The goal of this exhibition is to use dramatic art to engage visitors in complex issues and possibilities surrounding the state of food on our dinner plates and planet.

Dash’s arresting photographs engage visitors in complex issues surrounding the state of food on our dinner plates and the future of our planet.