This paper considers how people could be fed in the event of a sudden reduction in sunlight - for example, caused by a volcanic eruption, an asteroid strike, or nuclear war. These triggers could cause global agricultural output to collapse through abrupt falls in light, temperature and precipitation. The paper identifies foods that could still be produced under these conditions, and assesses their potential contributions to nutrition.

This policy brief from the UK’s Food Research Collaboration argues that thinking of vegetable supply chains in the UK as interactive and entangled networks of state, community and commercial actors, rather than primarily as markets, can give communities greater influence over supply chain governance and provide growers with alternatives to supermarket supply chains.

The UK’s Food Ethics Council has released a write-up and recording of its latest “Food Policy on Trial” event, which was held at the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2022. Four speakers, including dairy farmers and a commercial cheese buyer, discussed the fairness of rules governing the dairy sector and milk contracts. One farmer explained that the short shelf-life of milk puts farmers at a disadvantage when negotiating contracts.

This report from WWF argues that imports of commodities (including soy, beef, shrimp, rubber, palm oil and wheat) to the European Union are driving the destruction of many types of ecosystems. It stresses the importance of considering not just deforestation, but also the conversion of grasslands, savannahs, peatlands, shrublands and wetlands, and sets out policy recommendations.

This book sets out industrial opportunities and circular economy concepts that could help resolve sustainability challenges throughout the global food supply chain.

This discussion paper from the UK-based Food Research Collaboration presents an alternative interpretation of supermarkets’ business models. Instead of offering low prices purely through economies of scale, the report suggests, supermarkets are running a finely balanced model with very low profit margins and large sale volumes. To keep prices low, supermarkets both persuade customers to buy additional items (which may ultimately go to waste) and charge fees to suppliers in return for marketing and selling their products. Without these supplier fees, supermarkets in the UK would be running at or near a loss.

This report from the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics argues that while UK supermarkets are making progress in their responsible antibiotic use policies, they should expand them to cover all animal products that they sell. While all the leading supermarkets have antibiotic policies in place already, they usually only cover own-brand animal products.

This book - which has been revised and updated since its first publication in 2016 - explores how large firms exert control over the food system, how initiatives such as microbreweries and seed saving networks are opposing these power dynamics, and how Big Data and automation might shape the food system.