A group of 32 investors managing $7.3 trillion in assets issued their first ever call to the countries' finance chiefs ahead of a G20 summit, urging the group of wealthier countries to align agricultural subsidies with their climate and nature goals by the end of the decade.

The New Zealand government has announced proposals to introduce farm-level taxes for agricultural emissions, with the aim of incentivising farmers to adopt climate mitigation measures. The plans involve pricing long-lived greenhouse gases and biogenic methane separately; farmers who meet certain thresholds for livestock numbers or fertiliser use will pay a bill that depends on their farm areas, livestock numbers and production, and nitrogen fertiliser use; incentive payments (funded by the tax) will be made to farmers who adopt a range of emissions reduction measures; additional payments will be made to farmers who sequester carbon through managing indigenous vegetation. A consultation on the proposals is open until 18 November 2022.

This report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations sets out the latest statistics on food security around the world, analyses how government policies are affecting food and agriculture, and sets out options for repurposing government support to improve the affordability of healthy diets. It finds that hunger has continued to worsen, with around 150 million more people affected by hunger in 2021 compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

In this article for The Counter, author Sarah Mock describes her research with farmers across the United States. In writing her book, she originally set out to prove that agriculture should be organised around small family farms, but found that few farms of this type were financially stable. Instead, she delves into why small family farms are romanticised in the United States, discussing the history of land enclosure and subsidies.

This report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) finds that 87% of current global government support for farming includes measures that are harmful to nature or health. It argues that redirecting - rather than eliminating - agricultural subsidies is key to making the global food system more healthy, sustainable and equitable.

The National Food Strategy, an independent review led by Henry Dimbleby for the UK Government, sets out a vision for the future food system, focusing primarily on England. Describing itself as “an interventionist strategy”, it aims to change diets between 2019 and 2032 to include 30% more fruit and vegetables, 50% more fibre, 25% less HFSS food (high in fat, sugar or salt), and 30% less meat (of all kinds).

This modelling paper, co-authored by TABLE member Elin Röös, examines the synergies and goal conflicts that could arise from different food taxation scenarios in Sweden. It finds that while taxing foods can reduce most environmental impacts, one scenario - reducing tax on plant-based products - might cause increases in environmental impacts by encouraging higher total food consumption. It also examines the trade-offs for land use and biodiversity protection associated with limiting beef consumption through taxation.

This report from US thinktank The Breakthrough Institute lays out the economic and environmental case for expanding federal support for alternative protein research and industry expansion. COVID-19 is not only impacting the meat processing industry - many alternative protein startups are also closed or threatened by declines in investment funding. The report estimates that the alternative protein industry could generate over 200,000 US jobs in the long-term, but only if the government provides support to the nascent industry to ensure it does not collapse because of COVID-19. Support might include small business innovation programmes, loan guarantees, and research and development programmes.

This report, commissioned by the UK countryside charity CPRE, assesses the current state of “county farms” - i.e. farms owned by local authorities, sometimes let out at below-market rates to assist new entrants to farming. It finds that the area of county farms has halved in the past 40 years as a result of being sold off.