Image Reports Understanding Moments of Change in Food Systems Transformation This report brings qualitative examples of food system transformation bought together from the experiences of a group of organisations working at the country level, often together, in close partnership with governments and local organisations. Read
Image Publication Tomorrow on the table: The politics and economics of food system transformation In October 2024, TABLE brought together a diverse range of stakeholders across the food system with the aim of exploring how they envisaged a better food future, and what system transformations would be needed to get there. The participants included non-governmental and civil society organisations, policymakers, philanthropists, community leaders, and academics from diverse disciplines. Over the course of the workshop, they together discussed, developed and refined different visions for the future of the food system based on three initially conceived visions: market-led, state-led, and bottom-up. This report synthesises the workshop methods and dialogue process, the discussions participants had and the areas of agreement that emerged. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/421fa6df Read
Image Essay How can feminist perspectives illuminate our vision(s) for meat? In a piece originally published by the Feminist Food Journal, Tamsin Blaxter uses a feminist lens to examine how gender shapes the ways in which we interpret and project certain futures for meat.The Feminist Food Journal (FFJ) is an online publication that explores food and culture through an intersectional and global feminist lens.An audio version of this essay will be available from FFJ shortly. The FEED Podcast is also producing an episode in collaboration with FFJ, due out later this year. Read
Image Essay The role of visions, values and assumptions in determining the future of our food system TABLE’s director, Tara Garnett, gave a talk at the Wageningen University & Research (WUR) symposium on the environmental impact of food systems earlier this summer. We are summarising the talk here, because it provides a good introduction to TABLE’s approach to food system debates. Read
Image Letterbox Series 4: Vegan or flexitarian - which diet is healthier? In the quest for sustainable healthy diets, it is common to hear recommendations to reduce the amount of animal-sourced foods consumed in high-income countries. But what level of reduction is optimal for human health? For the best nutritional and health outcomes, should we be eating low-meat “flexitarian” diets, or entirely plant-based diets? In this Letterbox exchange, nutrition researcher Flaminia Ortenzi and physician Dr Tushar Mehta share their perspectives on the relative health and nutritional impacts of purely vegan diets compared to those that contain low levels of animal-sourced foods. Flaminia focuses on the nutrient density of different foods, while Tushar discusses data on the health outcomes of different diets. Read
Image Letterbox Series 2: Depolarising the future of protein The future roles of livestock and alternative proteins are heavily contested. The IPES-Food report The Politics of Protein: Examining claims about livestock, fish, ‘alternative proteins’ and sustainability aimed to overcome polarisation by critically assessing the stories commonly told about different proteins and their environmental, nutritional, and social impacts. Did the report achieve its goal? In this TABLE Letterbox exchange, Garrett Broad and Phil Howard discuss whether the report instead reinforced existing media narratives about alternative proteins, and debate the extent to which plant-based and cell-cultured foods can help to resolve the challenges facing the global food system. Read
Image Explainer What is the nutrition transition? Changes in diet and lifestyle can be caused by many factors and can, in turn, cause changes in health. This building block explains what the nutrition transition is and its implications for health and environmental sustainability. Last update: 12 October, 2018 https://www.doi.org/10.56661/39a7336f Read
