Food policy | TableDebates

Banana stall in grocery store

News and resources

More produce, less dairy for low-income families under US nutrition program changes

Reuters reports on a recent update by the USDA to the WIC program, expanding access to fruits, vegetables, and seafood while reducing allowances for dairy, juice and cheese, in alignment with modern dietary science, marking the first revision since 2014.

A recovered family farm in Thailand

Power, policy and people’s rights: an interview with Shalmali Guttal

The following interview was originally recorded in October 2021 between podcast co-host Samara Brock and the Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, Shalmali Guttal. It has been edited for clarity and length.Focus on the Global South (Focus) is an Asian activist, policy research think tank that works with social movements, civil societies, government officials and the public on various aspects of globalization, economic financial policies, and environmental ecological issues. Focus brings diverse actors together to share and deepen the analysis of emerging power patterns and power relations, and to build broad collective mobilizations for global change. It produces analyses that illuminate relations of power, how they create and perpetuate inequality, exclusion, environmental destruction, and entrench marginalization at national, regional and international levels. It also aims to generate high quality, credible and accessible materials that contextualize, inform and support people’s struggles.

Image of the front cover of book title Food Insecurity by William D. Schanbacher and Whitney Fung Uy

Food Insecurity: A reference handbook

Millions of Americans are at risk of food insecurity despite decades of on-going efforts to combat the issue. This book, designed as a reference handbook, delves into the historical drivers of food insecurity and presents a diverse range of voices from those who are tackling this persistent crisis.

Image of a person eating a hamburger. Image by Szabo Viktor via Unsplash

News and resources

Government-Backed Meat Ad Campaign Targets Gen Z in Veganuary

A recent campaign launched by the DEFRA appointed Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has faced criticism for contradicting scientific evidence. Experts say, the 'Let's Eat Balanced' campaign, describes misleading information that ignores negative health impacts associated with meat and dairy-rich diets, and lacks adequate attention to environmental issues connected to heavy meat consumption.

Front cover of Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priority Funds report titled Leveraging knowledge-policy interfaces for food systems transformation in the UK: Lessons from civil society. Image contains the title with a mix of puzzle pieces, sustainability icons, and cartoon workers fitting the pieces together

Leveraging knowledge-policy interfaces for food systems transformation in the UK: Lessons from civil society

This report from the Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priority Fund explores the relationships between civil society organisations and food systems researchers under ‘knowledge-policy interfaces’ in pursuit of more impactful and transformative food policy in the UK.

Jessica Duncan holding a bundle of carrots

Podcast episode

Ep51: Jessica Duncan on COP28 and who shapes food policy

Food systems are finally getting more attention at global climate conversations like COP 28. But who is at the table shaping our food futures?

The cover to Food Policy in the United Kingdom, showing fruit including peppers, bananas and tomatoes.

Food Policy in the United Kingdom: An Introduction

This book provides a wide-ranging introduction to food policy in the UK. The book covers various topics, including healthy and sustainable diets, food insecurity, finance, public sector food initiatives and food safety as well as the role of media, the food industry and government. The book is addressed to students, scholars, policymakers and professionals, as well as those interested in food systems.

The cover of the European Commission report Towards sustainable food consumption with illustrations of hands holding various vegetables.

Towards sustainable food consumption

This report is a follow on to The Farm to Fork strategy, announced by the European Commission in 2020, that presented a series of policy goals based on the assumption that consumers choose food through a rational and reflective process. Incorporating scientific evidence that consumer choice is actually largely influenced and restricted by food environments, this report sets out a set of recommendations for a mix of policy interventions to overcome the barriers that are preventing consumers from adopting more sustainable and healthier diets.

Cover for the report titled “Eating for Net Zero: How diet shift can enable a nature positive net-zero transition in the UK” published by WWF in 2023, featuring a background photo of several bowls of plant-based dishes on a wooden table.

Eating for Net Zero: How diet shift can enable a nature positive net-zero transition in the UK

This report published by WWF-UK lays out how UK population diets can become more healthy and sustainable and how that shift can support national climate and nature targets.