Samuel Lee-Gammage | TableDebates

Foodsource

What is the connection between infectious diseases in humans and livestock?

Diseases that pass between animals and humans are responsible for many of the diseases affecting people worldwide, especially in developing countries. Animals (wild and domestic) also play an important role in the emergence and spread of entirely novel human diseases, with the potential for large impacts on human health, such as bird flu. Another aspect of this to which livestock contribute, is the rise and spread of resistance to antibiotic drugs. One outcome of sustainable food systems is that they should be health promoting. It is, therefore, useful to understand the interconnection between infectious diseases in human and animals, and how these risks may be amplified or reduced by changes in farming systems.

Photo credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tea_workers_carrying_tea_sacks_JEG9535.jpg https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1169385 https://pixabay.com/nl/tractor-voertuigen-boerderij-387275/ https://pixabay.com/nl/het-spuiten-van-suikerriet-suikerriet-2746350/

What is sustainable intensification?

New approaches to agriculture are required if we are to reduce the environmental impacts of farming while also feeding more people with a sufficient quantity and diversity of nutritious and safe foods. This building block explains the concept of sustainable intensification. Last update: 18 June, 2018 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/075f639f

Image montage (clockwise from left): DFAT, A_Peach, Jon Aslund and USDA via Flickr

What is food security?

Being able to reliably obtain, consume and metabolise sufficient quantities of safe and nutritious and foods, is essential to human well-being. This building block explains the meaning of the food security concept. Last update: 12 March, 2018 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/e49a6c96

Amazon land use by CIAT via Flickr

What is land use and land use change?

Human use and alteration of land has profound effects on the environment, both locally where it takes place, and at the planetary scale via climate change and other mechanisms. This building block explains what is meant by land use and land use change, both direct and indirect. Last update: 06 February, 2018 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/4af265b4

Chickens at Johnson Farms by Rick Obst via Flickr

What is animal welfare?

The role of animals in food systems, and the degree to which their needs should be accounted for as compared to humans, are ethical issues about which there is both concern and disagreement. This building block explains what is meant by the concept of animal welfare. Last update: 15 Dec, 2017 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/ad46e825

What are food systems?

Many social, economic, moral, and environmental concerns are interconnected and interact with each other through food, and do so in complex ways. In order to understand this, we need to apply a 'systems thinking' approach to food. This building block explains what is meant by the term 'food system' and provides a brief introduction to the food systems approach. Last update: 15 Dec, 2017 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/be6ff2e7

A woman shuffles through documents. Photo by Anastassia Anufrieva via Unsplash.

Who will win in the battle over sustainability in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, science or special interests?

In this piece, Samual Lee-Gammage offers his personal take on the debate around the US Dietary guidelines, and the recommendation of the guidelines committee that sustainability dimensions be incorporated into the forthcoming version. He also offers information about what researchers can do to support the scientific recommendations of the committee.Samuel is the Research Director for the Food Choice Taskforce (FCT), where he is responsible for knowledge management and resource development to communicate the potential of dietary shifts for public and environmental health. Samuel holds an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford and also holds a BSc in Environmental Geosciences, from the University of Bristol.