The Dutch government-funded healthy eating agency Voedingscentrum has launched a new campaign encouraging men who eat a lot of meat to reduce their consumption. FCRN member Corné van Dooren says that men, on average, could eat 400g less meat per week to meet guidelines, while women could eat 100g less.

This feature in the Guardian explores the reasons for the rapid growth of the anti-plastic movement. It also describes historical lobbying campaigns that painted plastic packaging as being the responsibility of the consumer rather than manufacturers, and outlines some of the issues associated with recycling plastic (in comparison to recycling, say, glass or metals).

UK supermarket Sainsbury’s has started selling edible insects in 250 of its stores, becoming the first UK supermarket to do so. The barbecue-flavour roasted crickets are made by Eat Grub and contain 68 grams of protein per 100 grams of dried crickets. Eat Grub founder Shami Radia told Sky News, “We're on a mission to show the West that as well as having very strong sustainability and environmental credentials, they are also seriously tasty and shouldn't be overlooked as a great snack or recipe ingredient.”

The book “Food, Politics, and Society: Social Theory and the Modern Food System”, by Alejandro Colas, Jason Edwards, Jane Levi, and Sami Zubaida, surveys how social theory has shaped our understanding of the food system.

Sustainable Manufacturing and Recycling Technologies (SMART), a research and development centre at Loughborough University, has produced a post-event report of its expert panel discussion on reducing the impact of food waste held on 12 October 2018. The topics discussed include the influence of multibuy offers on food waste, the links between single-use packaging and food waste, the impacts of “wonky veg” ranges in supermarkets, and smart fridges.

13% of the UK population is now vegetarian or vegan, while a further 21% identify as “flexitarian”, according to the 2018-19 edition of the Food and Drink Report by supermarket chain Waitrose & Partners. Among other food trends, the report also discusses plastic packaging, claiming that 88% of survey participants who had watched the final episode of the wildlife documentary Blue Planet II have changed how they use plastic.

According to a survey of US beer drinkers, 59% would be willing to pay more for beer that has been brewed using more sustainable processes, such as energy efficiency or carbon saving measures. On average, respondents were willing to pay $0.22 more per 12-ounce bottle than the price they already paid for their favourite beer ($1.69 per 12-ounce bottle).

Utilities company Veolia and plastics charity RECOUP have together released the report “Plan for plastics”, which considers how the UK can improve plastic recycling. The report finds that 93% of people think plastic bottles should be made with recycled materials and are willing to pay 2.5 pence more, on average, for a recycled bottle (compared to a non-recycled bottle). Less than 5% of plastic film is currently recycled, compared to 59% of plastic bottles.

A survey of Canadians finds that a high level of dedication to Christianity is negatively correlated with monetary donations to environmental causes, while being a believer without an affiliation to organised religion is positively correlated to such donations. However, being very religious was positively correlated with volunteering for environmental causes, while being strictly secular or nominally religious were negatively correlated with such volunteering.