Following up on the 2nd Webinar of the Climate Change Urban Food Initiative “Food, Climate change and the City” the presentations of the three speakers Tara Garnett (FCRN), Jane Battersby-Lennard (University of Cape Town) and Matthew Thomas (Greater London Authority) are now available online here.

The journal Food and Nutrition Security has produced a special issue on the question: “can science and good governance deliver dinner?’  The guest editor Voster Muchenje provides this overview of its rationale and contents for the FCRN:

This report argues that open data can be a powerful tool to solve problems around the world in agriculture and nutrition: from drought, pests and diseases, to food security and food safety.

The EAT initiative in collaboration with the think tank and consultancy Sustainia has released a new publication EAT in Sustainia, discussing the global food system and the challenges, opportunities and solutions we have to understand in relation to the future of food, health and our environment.

As people increasingly migrate to urban settings and more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, it is vital to plan and provide for sustainable and resilient food systems which reflect this challenge. This volume presents experience and evidence-based "state of the art" chapters on the key dimensions of urban food challenges and types of intra- and peri-urban agriculture.

The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified processed meat in Group 1 of carcinogenic substances– the highest evidence level (“based on sufficient evidence”). Red meat is placed in Group 2A as probably carcinogenic (based on limited evidence). The new classification is announced in a research summary report published in The Lancet Oncology 26 October 2015 where WHO summarises its review of all scientific evidence on which substances can be linked to any type of cancer in humans. 

In a joint project researchers from the University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) looked at the direct medical treatment costs of nutrition-associated diseases related to the overconsumption of sugars, salt and saturated fatty acids. In all, the team identified 22 clinical endpoints with 48 risk-outcome pairs.

Brazilian greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are projected to reach 3.2 gigatonnes (CO2 eq.) by 2020. The government has made a voluntary commitment to reduce these by 40 per cent, and a reduction in deforestation and implementation of beef-related mitigation measures are key components of this commitment. Focusing on the Cerrado core (central Brazilian Savannah), this paper analyses the abatement potential and cost-effectiveness of GHG mitigation measures applicable to livestock production.

The average U.S. family spends $2,225 every year on food they don't eat.  American consumers are collectively responsible for more wasted food than farmers, grocery stores, or any other part of the food-supply chain. This  new book, entitled Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook provides accessible information about the state of the problem as well as a set of tips and techniques to eanble people to reduce the amount of waste they produce.