The future of food is in peril. Food production around the globe is both a contributor to and a victim of climate change, while population growth and shifting consumption patterns threaten to outpace supply. The Future of Food examines the current issues facing our food supply and considers the potential solutions, low-tech and high-tech, to those challenges.

This webinar was hosted by TABLE on 16 April 2026 and took the form of a discussion between:Matt Abel, assistant professor, Southern Methodist University;Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas, associate researcher, Centro de Estudios Populares and Catholic University.Matthew Kessler of TABLE introduced the speakers and moderated the Q&A.

The Big Three asset managers (BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street) appear to be reinforcing shareholder primacy in health-harming commodity industries, including by undermining many shareholder-led social and environmental initiatives, which risks perpetuating widespread health inequities. 

This book examines the politics of agrarian change in the Gulf. The author Christian Henderson considers the way that the Gulf states represent 'inverted farms', where the import of prodigious quantities of agricultural commodities has enabled these economies to overcome their lack of arable land. As a result of this trade, states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia have developed their own agribusiness sectors. 

This study claims that in pesticide-free systems, it is possible to achieve yields comparable to conventional and higher than organic systems and, in some cases, generate higher net farm income. Pest and pathogen crop damage did not significantly increase over time, although weed management remained a key challenge. 

This study estimates the pesticide usage and freshwater ecotoxicity impacts of the current national diet and advocated EAT-Lancet diet, Mediterranean diet, and vegetarian diet. It finds that shifting toward these recommended diets, except for the EAT-Lanet diet, would lead to increased pesticide usage and associated ecotoxicity impacts.

Our findings show that food-related emissions were responsible for an estimated 840,400 deaths due to fine-particulate matter pollution in 2017. Of these, approximately 11% (or 94,100 deaths) were linked to the global food trade. 

This paper argues that China’s food security approach is being broadened beyond a narrow emphasis on grain self-sufficiency toward a more resilience-oriented food systems perspective. This reframing reflects tightening resource constraints, dietary transition, and growing exposure to soybean and other protein-related imports. 

This paper examines the food security consequences of the U.S-Iran conflict through a food system lens, tracing disruption pathways across six interconnected dimensions: food production, processing, distribution, retail, consumption, and the food environment.