The dramatic increases in agricultural yields over the 20th century have been supported by the broad spread application of fertiliser containing, amongst other elements, phosphorus. Whilst phosphate can be obtained from mining, the vast majority is obtained from cheap sulphur, which is a byproduct of refining fossil fuels. As the energy sector decarbonises, there will therefore be a large decrease in the availability of sulphur, leading to a rapid increase in price.  

The conflict in Ukraine has spotlighted significant insecurities in the global food system. Many countries with restricted access to imported staples have seen their food prices soaring and populations become increasingly food insecure, with effects most pronounced in the world’s poorest countries who tend to be import reliant. This paper highlights the impacts of current international crises on food security, highlights over-reliance on imports as the major threat to food security, and offers four suggestions as to how food systems can be diversified to enhance future food security

Leaked internal documents from Syngenta reveal how the company has repeatedly buried evidence that links its best selling herbicide Paraquat with Parkinson’s disease. The documents reveal a history of tactics to confound scientific research including; funding scientists and researchers to publish papers on Paraquat without disclosing conflicts of interest, enlisting lawyers to push scientists away from using “problematic language” and preventing a prominent scientist studying Parkinson’s from sitting on the US Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel, which regulates US pesticide usage.

The food system campaigners Feedback have won an appeal to challenge the legality of the UK’s Food Strategy, which was published by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in June 2022. The campaigners argue that the strategy is unlawful for failing to take into account duties to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

By analysing the results of several case studies this book assesses the impacts of land tenure reform interventions implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. It focuses on how these interventions impacted tenure security, agricultural productivity, and social inclusion under different socio-political and economic contexts. The authors argue that inadequate attention paid to the core characteristics of rural social systems obscures the benefits of achieving tenure while overlooking the potential for social reform.   

In July 2019, Ben Goldsmith lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, Iris, in an accident on their family farm in Somerset. This book explores how he found solace, healing, and hope in nature as he set about rewilding his farm. Ben tells a powerful, immersive and inspiring story of finding comfort and strength in nature in the darkest of times

Using ethnographic research, Valeria Siniscalchi peels back the curtain on the daily goings on of the famous grassroots food movement, Slow Food. The Slow Food organisation was formed in Italy to promote the values of slow, local and traditional food practices based around community values and sustainable environmental practices. Through engaging with the contradictions, complexities and ambiguities of the movement, Valeria shines a light on one of the most high-profile and controversial food movements of the last thirty years.

The Sixth Edition of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR2023) is the newest collaboration between Nordic researchers, written over a period of four years and used to determine national dietary guidelines in Baltic and Nordic countries. The report has been ongoing since the 1980s, with the last published in 2012. This edition of the report is the first to take into account environmental factors and it demonstrates the synergies between a healthy diet and one that is low in environmental emissions.

This report is based on the findings of the UK Geospatial Commission’s National Land Data Programme (NLDP). It explores how innovative data science (such as geospatial modelling, combining disparate data sets, and AI) can lead to better land-use management in the UK.