In our latest blog, Georgie Barber of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission puts forward the case for Land Use Frameworks as a vital tool for meeting climate, nature, food and health challenges, and considers the features that determine their success. 

 

This paper quantifies the availability of two macronutrients and nine micronutrients for 156 countries in ‘available food’, which they define as the quantity of food produced that is potentially available for consumption after factoring in reductions arising from food loss and waste, and non-food use through the production chain. Nutrient availability is assessed against a range of dietary guidelines to determine the depth and breadth of nutrient deficiencies across regions and countries, and a series of intervention strategies are explored. 

This paper examines the threat to current wilderness from climate-driven agricultural expansion. Through modelling future crop suitability, the authors establish that 2.7 million km2 of wilderness, particularly at high-latitude, will become newly suitable for agriculture within the next 40 years.

This paper reports the results of a structured expert elicitation process from 76 food system experts on future food system disruption scenarios for the UK. Around one third of those consulted thought that major civil unrest due to a shortage of popular carbohydrates as a result of extreme weather was more likely than not in the next 10 years.

 

This year's State of Food and Agriculture report is the first in a two year focus on the true cost of food for sustainable agrifood systems. The report uses the true cost accounting approach to demonstrate the hidden environmental, health and social costs and benefits of the agrifood system, so that actors can make more informed choices that lead to transformative policies and decision making. 

This report provides disclosure of conflicts of interest of the 20 members of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee who determine the national Dietary Guidelines for America. The report found that almost half of the members had a medium to high risk of conflict of interest due to connections with industry actors.

Drawing on expertise from health, climate, biodiversity and animal welfare policy and science, this CABI Policy Forum argues current levels of animal product production and consumption threaten ‘One Health’ outcomes and presents the case for a just transition in animal agriculture. The report identifies five principles to guide policy makers in promoting a just transition from systems of industrial meat production and overconsumption.

 

In the lead up to COP28, a coalition of more than 80 powerful organisations from across the global food system have signed an open letter to incorporate food system transformation into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The letter calls for a clear political stance to be taken by governments and for food systems action to be part of the National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions and long-term strategies.

Former officials at the FAO have revealed a history of corporate lobbying from the livestock sector, undermining the integrity of the FAO’s reporting on emissions from cattle and their contribution to rising global temperatures. Former officials detail how they were censored, sabotaged, undermined and victimised for more than a decade.

Recent investigation by Greenpeace and journalism by the guardian reveals how a declaration published in a scientific journal and signed by over 1,000 scientists in support of meat production has numerous links to the livestock industry. The document, which has been criticised by numerous scientists, has been used to target EU officials and may have contributed to delays and backtracking in meat reduction legislation. 

 

Taras Grecoe looks into the history of agriculture, food production and consumption in order to understand how historical practices could positively shape a sustainable future food system. He argues that the future of food security, human health and biodiversity can only be reached by re-engaging with the culinary diversity of the past through radically diversifying the food of the future.

From plot to plate, this book follows food through the supply chain from the ground through farmers and producers, to the chefs and front of house who deliver it to customers at Chicago’s Wherewithall restaurant.  The book offers an engaging perspective on the multifaceted dynamics shaping the fine dining food system through a series of personal encounters with actors throughout the system.