OUR WRITING KeywordsAgri-food systemAgricultural biodiversityAgricultural innovationAgricultural intensificationAgricultural lossesAgricultural monocultureAgricultural productionAgricultural productivityAgricultural yieldAgroecologyAgroforestry/silvopastureAlcoholic drinksAlternative food movementAlternative proteinAlternatives to intensive farmingAnimal feedAnimal welfareAnthropoceneAnthropocentrismAquacultureArable crops and arable landBeefBig foodBiodiversityBiodiversity conservationBioenergyBiological nitrogen fixationBiotechnologyCarbon footprintCarbon sequestrationCarbon sinksCarbon sinks and sequestrationChicken/poultryClimate changeClimate change impactsClimate policyCommunicable diseasesConservation biologyConsumer food choice appsConsumer perceptions and preferencesConsumptionConsumption and production trendsConventional agricultureCorporate food regimeCrop diversityCrop systemsCrop-livestock integrationCulture & communityDairyDeforestationDeforestation riskDevelopment policiesDietary guidelinesDietary surveyEcomodernismEconomics, business, and tradeEcosystemEcosystem restorationEcosystem servicesEcosystems & biodiversityEcosystems and ecosystem servicesEnvironmental & Social ImpactsEnvironmental impact assessmentsEnvironmental policyFarmingFarming systemsFeed conversion efficiencyFish stocks/overfishingFish/aquatic typesFisheriesFlexitarianismFood and agriculture policyFood and healthFood chainFood consumptionFood cultureFood justiceFood policyFood securityFood sovereigntyFood supplements/nutritional enhancementFood System TransformationFood systemsFood systems thinkingFood systems: an introductionFood systems: research methodsFood waste/surplus foodFruitFuture of foodGenderGHG emission trendsGHG emissions and mitigationGHG impacts and mitigationGHGsGlobal healthGlobal warming potentialGovernance, policy, and powerGrazed and confusedGrazing and grasslandGreen economy/alternative economic modelsGWP*Health and nutrition policyHealth concernsHorticulture and fruit treesHousehold food consumptionHuman health & wellbeingHungerIndustrial food manufacturingIndustry actions/CSRInequalityInsectsIntensive agricultureInvasive speciesInvestmentLand governanceLand sparing - sharingLand systems & changeLand useLand use and land use changeLegumes/pulsesLife cycleLife cycle analysisLivestockLivestock on LeftoversLocal foodMalnutritionMalnutrition/undernourishmentMarine and aquatic ecosystemsMarketsMeatMeat and taboos/religious beliefsMeat, Dairy & LivestockMethaneMilkMitigation policiesMonogastricMultiple burdens of malnutritionNitrogenNitrogen fixationNon-communicable diseasesNutritionNutritionismOrganicOrganic farmingOvernutritionPalm oilPlant/crop sciencePolitical economyPolitics & ParadigmsPorkPost-harvest lossesPoverty alleviationPower & ProteinProduction efficiency/intensityProteinProtein malnutrition and PEM (Protein-energy malnutrition)Public attitudesRegenerative agricultureRegenerative grazingResearch methodsResilience and vulnerabilityRewildingRuminantRuminantsScaleScience and backgroundSmallholder (farms)Soil healthSoilsSoySoy MoratoriumSpotlight onStandards/certificationStorage and refrigerationSubstitutes for meat & dairySupply chainsSustainable development goalsSustainable food securitySustainable healthy dietsSustainable intensificationTechnology & innovationThe Great Protein FiascoTradeUltra-processed foodUltra-processed food (UPF)UndernutritionUrban agricultureUrban food systemsVegetablesVegetarianism/veganismWater footprintWater managementWater use/consumptionWritten materialsZoonotic diseases TypeEssayExplainerLetterboxPublication RegionAfricaAsiaAustralasiaEuropeGlobalLatin America and the CaribbeanMiddle-eastNorth America Year201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Image Explainer Methane and the sustainability of ruminant livestock The environmental sustainability of our food production methods, and what kinds of agricultural systems might be compatible with keeping global warming below internationally agreed upon limits, are key topics for sustainable food systems research and policy. Since the food system is an important emitter of three different greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; greater clarity as to their warming impacts and their consequent contribution to climate change is needed. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/25320192 Read Image Publication Working paper: Identifying civil society’s research priorities on sustainable livestock and protein The project aims to identify livestock-and protein-relevant questions, contestations and misunderstandings that the NGO community feels to be important, and that merit further research. Ultimately, the goal for this project is to come up with a short set of societally-relevant priority topics that could form the basis of interdisciplinary research and wider public engagement. Read Image Essay Why the beef with UK livestock? The need to distinguish between local and global scales in discussions on food sustainability Ellen Fletcher holds a BSc and MSc from Imperial College London, Centre for Environmental Policy. Her research has previously focused on urban agriculture (UA) where she has provided evidence on the importance of allotments as a form of UA in sustainable cities. Ellen is currently a research assistant at Rothamsted Research, where she is part of an EU Horizon 2020 project working with farmers in the South West. Ellen would like to pay particular thanks to Catherine Broomfield for initially introducing her to the topic of global and local food systems in her seminar “Livestock farmers: prophets or pariahs?”. Catherine’s extensive body of work on UK livestock systems can be found here. Read Image Essay Soy in the UK: What are its uses? This blog post looks at publicly available data on the UK’s imports of soy and its use for feed and food. It also considers the limitations of these data and the links between different uses of soy and land use change in South America. Read Image Essay Collaboration instead of conflict: Using empathy to change the chicken industry Leah Garcés is the president of international non-profit animal advocacy organisation Mercy For Animals and author of Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry. Read Image Explainer Soy: food, feed, and land use change The global growth in the production of soy and its use for different types of foods has been, and continues to be, a major contributor to land use change in the Amazon and other regions in South America. This building block explores the connections between soy, land use change, and discussions on animal- versus plant-based protein sources. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/47e58c32 Read Image Explainer What is feed-food competition? This building block explores key statistics about competing uses for food system resources, focusing on the use of land, crops and wild fish for feeding humans or feeding livestock – a trade-off known as feed-food competition. It also outlines different ways in which people interpret these figures and sets out how these differing perspectives link to broader debates about what we should eat and how we should produce food, particularly concerning what role (if any) livestock should play in the global food system. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/dde79ca0 A shorter written version of this summary is available here. Read Image Essay Moving Beyond the Impossible: Challenges of cellular agriculture Martin Rowe is the co-founder and publisher at Lantern Books. For the last three years, he has followed the development of a new generation of plant-based meat and dairy analogues, as well as that of cultured or “clean” meat. Drawing on research encapsulated in his paper, Beyond the Impossible: The Future of Plant-based and Cellular Meat and Dairy, which he wrote for Brighter Green and the Vegan America Project, Rowe notes some of the challenges accompanying these developments in the food, environmental, and technological spaces. Read Image Essay Distancing death: slaughter, welfare and consumption in the British halal meat industry Hibba Mazhary is a part-time PhD student in Geography at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. She divides her time between her thesis, teaching undergraduates, and undertaking various part-time research assistant roles, including one most recently at the RSPCA on laboratory rat welfare. Hibba is interested in all things farm animal welfare and food sustainability. Read VIEW MORE
Image Explainer Methane and the sustainability of ruminant livestock The environmental sustainability of our food production methods, and what kinds of agricultural systems might be compatible with keeping global warming below internationally agreed upon limits, are key topics for sustainable food systems research and policy. Since the food system is an important emitter of three different greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; greater clarity as to their warming impacts and their consequent contribution to climate change is needed. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/25320192 Read
Image Publication Working paper: Identifying civil society’s research priorities on sustainable livestock and protein The project aims to identify livestock-and protein-relevant questions, contestations and misunderstandings that the NGO community feels to be important, and that merit further research. Ultimately, the goal for this project is to come up with a short set of societally-relevant priority topics that could form the basis of interdisciplinary research and wider public engagement. Read
Image Essay Why the beef with UK livestock? The need to distinguish between local and global scales in discussions on food sustainability Ellen Fletcher holds a BSc and MSc from Imperial College London, Centre for Environmental Policy. Her research has previously focused on urban agriculture (UA) where she has provided evidence on the importance of allotments as a form of UA in sustainable cities. Ellen is currently a research assistant at Rothamsted Research, where she is part of an EU Horizon 2020 project working with farmers in the South West. Ellen would like to pay particular thanks to Catherine Broomfield for initially introducing her to the topic of global and local food systems in her seminar “Livestock farmers: prophets or pariahs?”. Catherine’s extensive body of work on UK livestock systems can be found here. Read
Image Essay Soy in the UK: What are its uses? This blog post looks at publicly available data on the UK’s imports of soy and its use for feed and food. It also considers the limitations of these data and the links between different uses of soy and land use change in South America. Read
Image Essay Collaboration instead of conflict: Using empathy to change the chicken industry Leah Garcés is the president of international non-profit animal advocacy organisation Mercy For Animals and author of Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry. Read
Image Explainer Soy: food, feed, and land use change The global growth in the production of soy and its use for different types of foods has been, and continues to be, a major contributor to land use change in the Amazon and other regions in South America. This building block explores the connections between soy, land use change, and discussions on animal- versus plant-based protein sources. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/47e58c32 Read
Image Explainer What is feed-food competition? This building block explores key statistics about competing uses for food system resources, focusing on the use of land, crops and wild fish for feeding humans or feeding livestock – a trade-off known as feed-food competition. It also outlines different ways in which people interpret these figures and sets out how these differing perspectives link to broader debates about what we should eat and how we should produce food, particularly concerning what role (if any) livestock should play in the global food system. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/dde79ca0 A shorter written version of this summary is available here. Read
Image Essay Moving Beyond the Impossible: Challenges of cellular agriculture Martin Rowe is the co-founder and publisher at Lantern Books. For the last three years, he has followed the development of a new generation of plant-based meat and dairy analogues, as well as that of cultured or “clean” meat. Drawing on research encapsulated in his paper, Beyond the Impossible: The Future of Plant-based and Cellular Meat and Dairy, which he wrote for Brighter Green and the Vegan America Project, Rowe notes some of the challenges accompanying these developments in the food, environmental, and technological spaces. Read
Image Essay Distancing death: slaughter, welfare and consumption in the British halal meat industry Hibba Mazhary is a part-time PhD student in Geography at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. She divides her time between her thesis, teaching undergraduates, and undertaking various part-time research assistant roles, including one most recently at the RSPCA on laboratory rat welfare. Hibba is interested in all things farm animal welfare and food sustainability. Read
