This report from the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition gives evidence-based recommendations to policymakers (primarily in low- and middle- income countries) on how to transform food systems to provide sustainable, healthy diets for everyone. It includes suggestions on how to improve the availability, accessibility, affordability and desirability of nutrient-rich, sustainably-produced food.

This report from the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change makes recommendations for reducing the UK’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the negative health impacts of climate change. The suggestions include: provide clear, accessible advice on transitioning to climate-friendly diets; research the most effective forms of food labelling; require publicly procured food to meet minimum environmental standards; and require post-Brexit food imports to meet UK environmental standards.

This report from the International Land Coalition finds that inequality in ownership and control of land is greater than previously thought and increasing rapidly, with many smallholders, indigenous people and rural communities being squeezed onto smaller pieces of land. The report finds that 70% of the world’s farmland is controlled by the largest 1% of farms, generally acting as part of the “corporate food system”.

The journal Human Geography has released a special issue on “radical food geography praxis”. It is based on a workshop held in conjunction with the 2019 American Association of Geographers’ (AAG) Annual Meeting. 

This paper, co-authored by Table member Sofie Errendal, uses a survey of people from Loma Linda, California and Copenhagen, Denmark to investigate why people follow plant-based diets, with the aim of informing the strategy of future initiatives to promote sustainable healthy diets.  

This paper examines the global nutrition transition and argues that coordinated action is necessary to reduce household food waste, decrease consumption of animal-source foods, limit the prevalence of overweight and eliminate hunger.

In this paper, FCRN member Gesa Biermann uses a survey of German consumers to explore the different meanings and expectations attached to eating at home and eating in restaurants. The study shows that meat-eating is more common in restaurants than at home, for example 59% of flexitarian respondents ate more meat at a restaurant than at home. This is attributed to perceptions of eating meat in restaurants being an opportunity to treat oneself and celebrate special occasions. The paper suggests that to encourage plant-based eating in restaurants, the meaning of plant-based foods must become more aligned with notions of “the good life” (for example, relating to ideas about hospitality, generosity and pleasure).

This short and highly readable paper argues that “creative imagination” and positive stories about the future are necessary for generating solutions, in contrast to “purely technocratic” approaches, which fail to motivate people. It sketches out three possible scenarios for biodiversity and food production in the year 2050, noting that none are inevitable.

This paper finds that a global shift to vegan diets by 2050 could allow sequestration of 332–547 GtCO2 - equivalent to or greater than the remaining emissions budget for having a 66% of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. Meat reductions in line with the EAT-Lancet Commission’s recommendations could also lead to significant carbon sequestration.