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3.4.4 The 4th Pillar
Food stability is the fourth pillar that talks about the sustainment of food by time.
While unbalancing in food production, consumption, exchange, trade, and outbreaks cause disasters in communities. Food borne illnesses are common among
them. Antimicrobial resistance and climate change have been associated with the
instability of food at transitory (during certain periods), seasonal (a regular pattern
of weather change) and chronic level (long term) as because of natural disasters
(FAO 2017; Egal 2019).
3.5 Interplay of Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are present ubiquitously in the natural environment. The microbial
species have a strong potential in changing the climate and ironically the changing
climate also put selective pressure on the microbial communities. It is important to
understand that the interplay of microbes and climate change not only affect each
other but has an impact on our ecosystems (Hutchins et al. 2019). Climate change
has a huge impact on the global niche of food producing microorganisms (yeast,
bacteria, and molds) as well. Some microorganisms run the fermentation process,
which results in the production of alcohols, organic acids, and esters (Terefe 2016).
These chemical compounds play a major role in the preservation and generation of
new food products against the arbitrary changes in environmental factors (precipitation, pH, temperature). However, disturbance in optimum environmental conditions
significantly affects the production and preservation process. For instance, CO 2 is
produced in the fermentation of sugars by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which gives
the porous shape to bread and bakery products. Saccharomyces cerevisiae also contributes to flavor of beer, wine, vinegar, pickles etc. Bacterial species (Lactobacillus,
Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium) produce fermented milk products (Húngaro et al.
2014). The various types of molds such as Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium
camemberti produce cheese at an optimum temperature of 15 °C, while at 25 °C
these molds produce mycotoxins which are severely damaging as well as resistant
to both heat and chemicals (Húngaro et al. 2014).
The role of microorganisms has been overlooked in the challenging issue of climate change. Although microorganisms are crucial in regulating climate change,
they are often not the focus of climate change studies and are not considered in
policy development. Due to immense microbial diversity and response to environmental change it is difficult to determine microbial role in the ecosystem. Their
immense diversity and diverse responses to environmental change make determining their role in the ecosystem puzzling (Cavicchioli et al. 2019). The microbial
communities and climate change together act on the marine biome, terrestrial
biome, and agriculture biome.
3 Antimicrobial Resistance, Food Systems and Climate Change
3.4.4 The 4th Pillar
Food stability is the fourth pillar that talks about the sustainment of food by time.
While unbalancing in food production, consumption, exchange, trade, and outbreaks cause disasters in communities. Food borne illnesses are common among
them. Antimicrobial resistance and climate change have been associated with the
instability of food at transitory (during certain periods), seasonal (a regular pattern
of weather change) and chronic level (long term) as because of natural disasters
(FAO 2017; Egal 2019).
3.5 Interplay of Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are present ubiquitously in the natural environment. The microbial
species have a strong potential in changing the climate and ironically the changing
climate also put selective pressure on the microbial communities. It is important to
understand that the interplay of microbes and climate change not only affect each
other but has an impact on our ecosystems (Hutchins et al. 2019). Climate change
has a huge impact on the global niche of food producing microorganisms (yeast,
bacteria, and molds) as well. Some microorganisms run the fermentation process,
which results in the production of alcohols, organic acids, and esters (Terefe 2016).
These chemical compounds play a major role in the preservation and generation of
new food products against the arbitrary changes in environmental factors (precipitation, pH, temperature). However, disturbance in optimum environmental conditions
significantly affects the production and preservation process. For instance, CO 2 is
produced in the fermentation of sugars by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which gives
the porous shape to bread and bakery products. Saccharomyces cerevisiae also contributes to flavor of beer, wine, vinegar, pickles etc. Bacterial species (Lactobacillus,
Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium) produce fermented milk products (Húngaro et al.
2014). The various types of molds such as Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium
camemberti produce cheese at an optimum temperature of 15 °C, while at 25 °C
these molds produce mycotoxins which are severely damaging as well as resistant
to both heat and chemicals (Húngaro et al. 2014).
The role of microorganisms has been overlooked in the challenging issue of climate change. Although microorganisms are crucial in regulating climate change,
they are often not the focus of climate change studies and are not considered in
policy development. Due to immense microbial diversity and response to environmental change it is difficult to determine microbial role in the ecosystem. Their
immense diversity and diverse responses to environmental change make determining their role in the ecosystem puzzling (Cavicchioli et al. 2019). The microbial
communities and climate change together act on the marine biome, terrestrial
biome, and agriculture biome.
3 Antimicrobial Resistance, Food Systems and Climate Change