Culture & community | TableDebates

Headshots of Richard Tellstrom

Podcast episode

What's a natural diet? (with Richard Tellström)

How does culture, politics and economics shape what we eat today?

Front cover of report titled Food, Agriculture and Nutrition in South Asia. Image contains a satellite view of South Asia and circular pictures of people of the region.

Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition in South Asia

This report reflects on trends in hunger and malnutrition in South Asia, highlighting the growing issue of obesity coexisting with rising levels of hunger and malnutrition. It proposes new policy actions targeting the entire food value chain in order to address the challenges which have destabilised South Asian food systems over the past five years.

A green valley in the UK with green trees and agricultural lands with a road running through the middle.

Land matters: why we need better land use decision making

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.

The cover of Beyond the Kitchen Table shows a world map made out of spices.

Beyond the Kitchen Table

Beyond the Kitchen Table is a collection of articles on the role of Black Women in global food systems. Topics include the contribution of black women to community building, matrilineal food-based education, the role of networks in addressing food insecurity, intersectionality in the food system and more.

New essay: Milk and meat production in the drylands of Tanzania amidst climate change by Dr David Dawson Maleko

Essay: Milk and meat production in the drylands of Tanzania amidst climate change

Tanzania’s traditional livestock grazing systems are under pressure. As population growth and economic growth increase demand for milk and meat, farming is also facing the effects of both climate change and the allocation of grazing land to other uses including conservation and urban development. Dr David Dawson Maleko, lecturer, researcher and consultant at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, considers the potential solutions for enhancing milk and meat production in the face of these challenges. He discusses the challenges and trade-offs both of intensifying production and of government-led allocation of new grazing areas to herders.

Anthropocene Ecologies of Food: Notes from the Global South

Anthropocene Ecologies of Food: Notes from the Global South

This book examines the concept of the Anthropocene by discussing food production, culinary practices and representation of food in film, literature and other media. It focuses on the Indian geographical and cultural context, seeking to correct the absence of analyses of “Anthropocene ecologies of food” focused on the Global South.

Image: Pexels, Pig snout nose, Pixabay, Pixabay Licence

Journal articles

From rituals to laws: animal slaughter in Norway

This paper explores the changing relationship between people and animal slaughter in Norway since the early 20th century. It argues that a broad shift has occurred away from rituals that make animal slaughter meaningful and socially acceptable, and towards a “judicialisation” of animal slaughter - meaning that laws, rather than rituals, now regulate animal deaths. The authors argue that while the increased importance of regulation has contributed to stricter animal welfare practices, it also alienates consumers from the animals they eat.

The Kingdom of Rye

The Kingdom of Rye

This history of Russia’s cuisine looks at the links between food and hunger, climate, politics, and social structures.

Image: Giselleinmotion, Tanzania Africa, Pixabay, Pixabay Licence

News and resources

167,000 Maasai people face eviction from ancestral land

Maasai pastoralists are calling for international support to stop the Tanzanian government's plans to evict thousands of people from their ancestral lands in Ngorongoro and Loliondo to make way for tourism, development and wildlife hunting. In a public letter, Maasai community leaders argue that the Tanzanian government is falsely blaming livestock grazing and population growth for environmental degradation, to justify the mass evictions.