This book, by Mark Gibson, gives a broad overview of the development of the food industry and drivers of food supply, including information on food waste, genetic modification, food safety, politics and social trends.

This report from The Lancet Commission identifies the drivers behind what it terms ‘The Global Syndemic’, i.e. co-occurring pandemics, of obesity, undernutrition and climate change. The report finds that no country has successfully reversed its epidemic of obesity because the underlying causes have not been solved.

This book, by the academic Marion Nestle, describes how the food industry uses nutritional claims to promote sales of particular types of food.

FCRN member Susanne Freidberg examines corporate sustainability practices in the food sector, noting that many early projects overestimated consumer interest in environmental impacts information and the ability of the supply chain to produce that data, and that effective initiatives often require businesses to partner with academia and NGOs.

This paper explores the influence that the Coca-Cola Company has had on obesity science and policy in China, in part through Coca-Cola’s influence on the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI). The author notes that China’s health recommendations usually focus on physical activity instead of the dietary policies recommended by the World Health Organisation - in line with Coca-Cola’s message that all food and drinks can be part of a healthy diet, as long as there is enough exercise.

The global supermarket sector's commitments to protect public health are “generally disappointing”, finds FCRN member Claire Pulker of Curtin University. However, some progress is being made address food waste, assure food safety and quality, and support selection of healthy foods.

Entrepreneur network Forward Fooding has produced a global map of “FoodTech” startups, categorised into agricultural technology, next-generation food, consumers apps and services, delivery, smart appliances, surplus and waste, safety, traceability, and processing.

UK supermarket Tesco and wildlife NGO WWF have set up a four-year partnership to work on reducing the environmental impacts of food. They aim to halve the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket, according to a metric that they will develop.

The book “Organic Food and Farming in China: Top-down and Bottom-up Ecological Initiatives”, by Steffanie Scott, Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas and Aijuan Chen, examines the development of the organic food sector in China and its influences from both the state and grassroots actors.