This book gives an overview of research methods used in the study of the relationship between food and digital and social media. Chapters cover textual analysis of websites and videos, digital ethnography, digital food networks, the influence of apps and social media on food habits, and digital archives and network analysis.

This report from PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, co-authored by Table’s Jeroen Candel, analyses the current interface between science and policy for global food systems, identifies current gaps and weaknesses, and suggests options for improvement.

This report from the US think tank The Breakthrough Institute models the effects of publicly-funded agricultural research and development in the United States on crop production, land use, inputs and greenhouse gas emissions. It finds that spending more on public agricultural R&D would increase land use and emissions in the US, but that these increases would be offset by reductions at the global level.

This report for the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), co-authored by Table member Christian Reynolds, reviews how citizen science methods can be applied to food policy. Citizen science means actively involving citizens and communities in collecting data and creating new knowledge.

This report by the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London summarises the qualitative research methods that are available to help understand how people interact with food environments, including interviews, community observation and photo elicitation. The report notes that there has been relatively little qualitative (compared to quantitative) research on lived experiences of food environments, and that existing qualitative research often guides commercial product development but is less often used to inform policy.

In this BBC Future piece, Emily Kasriel uses a communication approach called “deep listening” to better understand how dairy farmers think about climate change. Kasriel describes deep listening: “I try to be completely present, using deep listening. I focus on their words, but also try to sense the meaning behind them to better understand their world view.” She talks to dairy farmers who hold varying views about the validity of climate science and the future of the sector.