The global agricultural system doesn’t produce enough fruit, vegetables and protein to meet the nutritional needs of the world’s population, according to this paper. Meanwhile, grains, fats and sugars are overproduced, relative to what is needed for a healthy diet (defined in this paper as a diet in accordance with the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate (HHEP)).

WWF-UK has produced a report that maps multi-stakeholder initiatives in the food system by commodities, geographies, issues and stakeholders involved. The report is aimed at helping initiatives identify the gaps where they can make a unique contribution.

A quarter of survey respondents claim that healthy and nutritious food in the UK is too expensive, while 10 million people live in “food deserts”, according to a report by London-based think tank the Social Market Foundation. The report examined three barriers to healthy eating: prices, affordability (relative to income) and access to food stores.

A combination of measures including a shift towards plant-based diets, halving food waste and technological changes in agriculture (such as more efficient fertiliser application, feed additives and changes in irrigation) could significantly reduce the food system’s environmental impacts relative to 2050 projections and potentially even reduce impacts below today’s levels, according to a new paper.

FCRN member Laurence Godin of the University of Geneva has written a paper that uses social practice theory to map food prescriptions (i.e. guidelines on how best to eat) and their translation in practice. It identifies what elements are essential for taking up food prescriptions, beyond individual motivation and intention.

FCRN member Nicole Tichenor Blackstone of Tufts University has recently authored a paper that compares the environmental impacts of three healthy eating patterns recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The vegetarian eating pattern had lower impacts than the US-style and Mediterranean-style eating patterns in all six impact categories considered.

14.4 million households don’t currently spend enough on food to follow the UK’s Eatwell Guide recommendations for a healthy diet, according to a report released by the UK-based Food Foundation. The report estimates that a household of two adults and two children (aged 10 and 15) would have to spend £103.17 per week to follow the Eatwell Guide. To meet the Eatwell Guide recommendations, the poorest 50% of households would have to spend around 30% of their disposable income (after tax and housing costs), while the richest 50% of households would have to spend around 12% of their disposable income.

If everyone in the world ate a diet consistent with the United States Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines, we would need more additional farmland than the amount of fertile land available, claims a recent paper.

Current crop production levels could feed a population of 9.7 billion people in 2050, according to a recent paper, but only in a future in which there are socio-economic changes, significant shifts in diets towards plant-based foods, and limited biofuel production. Without dietary changes, crop production would have to increase by 119% by 2050.