Written materials | TableDebates

Legumes and nuts

Protein meaning maps

Regenerative Agriculture

What is regenerative agriculture?

What is regenerative agriculture? Although this concept is frequently used in discussions about food systems transformation, and is starting to attract the attention of corporates and the mainstream, it lacks a formal definition, and what counts as "regenerative" can vary based on the individual asked, or the context.In this explainer, we explore ways of thinking about regenerative agriculture in relation to its various definitions, the stakeholders using the term, its knowledge practices and knowledge base, and how it fits in with wider goals for food system change.https://www.doi.org/10.56661/2d7b8d1cA shorter written version of this summary is available here.

Charcuterie plate with mustards, cheeses, fruits, relishes, bacon, and breads. Tim Toomey via Unsplash.

Meat, metrics and mindsets: Exploring debates on the role of livestock and alternatives in diets and farming

Should we eat meat, eggs, dairy and other animal-sourced foods? If so, how should we produce them and how much should we eat? If not, what should we eat instead? These are just some of the more contentious debates about the future of food systems.This Explainer summarises some of the key debates about livestock and its alternatives and describes both the arguments and the evidence underpinning different points of view. We look both at foodstuffs (meat, fish, plants and new foods based on cells grown in bioreactors) and farming methods (both intensive and extensive) with regards to discussions about their environmental, health and social impacts. In so doing, we explore the assumptions and values that often lead stakeholders to differing conclusions about what a sustainable food system looks like.https://doi.org/10.56661/2caf9b92

A fork with sugary looking sweets on it.

TABLE Summary Series: Ultra-Processed Foods

This is a brief summary of the longer TABLE Explainer “What is ultra-processed food? And why do people disagree about its utility as a concept?” It aims to illuminate key debates surrounding ultra-processed foods. Written by Trish Fisher.

A scottish highland cow with large horns in black and white

TABLE Summary Series: Agricultural Methane

This is a brief summary of two longer TABLE Explainers: "Agricultural methane and its role as a greenhouse gas" "Methane and the sustainability of ruminant livestock". It aims to illuminate key debates regarding agricultural methane’s role in climate change and some of the difficult trade-offs involved when it comes to mitigating agricultural methane. Written by Trish Fisher.

An empty plate post-meal on a wood table

TABLE Summary Series: Malnutrition

This is a brief summary of the longer TABLE Explainer "What is malnutrition?" It aims to illuminate key elements of the three forms of malnutrition. Written by Trish Fisher.

Photo of a man running, centered on his feet on a dirt road.

TABLE Summary Series: Nutrition Transition

This is a brief summary of the longer TABLE Explainer “What is the nutrition transition?” It aims to illuminate key debates surrounding the nutrition transition model. Written by Trish Fisher

A black and white image of a deer and two boars crossing through a forest in silhouette.

TABLE Summary series: Rewilding

This is a brief summary of the longer TABLE Explainer “Rewilding and its implications for agriculture”. It aims to illuminate key debates surrounding rewilding. Written by Trish Fisher

Investment power and protein report cover image - herding cattle

Investment, Power and Protein in sub-Saharan Africa

This report examines financial investment in protein production in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that in order to understand the changing place of protein in sub-Saharan African diets and food systems, it is important to investigate what motivates different financial actors to invest in new food products, markets and value chains – or to withhold investment from them. To this end, it examines what role investors’ expectations about the future of protein in sub-Saharan Africa play in mobilising investment in some places, protein sources and value chains – and in deterring investment in others. It thus examines what role the power to produce authoritative visions for the future of food, and to convince investors to act upon them, might play in transforming the organisation of protein production, provisioning and consumption within the region. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/d8817170 Suggested citation: Brice, J., (2022) Investment, Power and Protein in sub-Saharan Africa. TABLE Reports. TABLE, University of Oxford, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Wageningen University and Research. doi.org/10.56661/d8817170