In this piece, Jon Woolven provides an industry perspective on sustainable diets and potential ways forward. Jon Woolven is the Strategy and Innovation Director at the food and consumer goods industry research and training charity IGD, and also an FCRN Advisory Board Member.

This piece is the third and last blog-post in Mike Hamm's series discussing city region food systems. The series has been exploring the value of city-region food systems, obstacles to their development, and possible ways forward.  Part I conceptualised the issues, and Part II discussed who the farmer of the future will be and how the United States might be fed in 2050. This last, Part III on scale and production strategy has been split into two so make sure you have read Part IIIA to get the full picture.This is the second of a two-part blog looking at scale and production strategy.  In the first, Mike Hamm critiqued the notion that large-scale, conventional agriculture produced largely in concentrated areas is the only way to feed the U.S. and the world.  In this piece, he critiques the notion that smaller-scale and alternative production strategies can feed the U.S. population and also considers a middle path of scale and production diversity. He invites your comments, suggestions, and criticisms.This post is written by FCRN member professor Michael W. Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Mike is also a Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College and the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. 

This piece is the first of a two-part blog looking at scale and production strategy.  In this essay, Mike Hamm analyzes critiques of smaller-scale and alternative production strategies from several angles.  In the second, he will discuss problems inherent in the argument that small scale can feed the U.S. population and consider a middle path of scale and production diversity. As in the previous posts (Part I, Part II) – he invites your comments, suggestions, and criticisms.This is the third blog-post in his series discussing city region food systems. The series explores the value of city-region food systems, obstacles to their development, and possible ways forward; see Part I for a post which conceptualises the issues and Part II discusses who the farmer of the future will be and how the United States might be fed in 2050.This post is written by FCRN member professor Michael W. Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Mike is also a Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College and the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.

In this piece, FCRN advisory board member Vicki Hird covers the contention of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Treaty, introducing the politics and potential of the major negotiation. Vicki (MSC FRES RSA) is a food, farming and environmental professional with 25 years’ experience in research, policy advocacy and campaigning with some great wins, some moderate successes, some useful failures, many reports and a book on food and farming policy. She started out studying slime mould ecology and agricultural pest control but got sidetracked…

In this piece, Elin Röös summarizes and contextualizes both the development and controversies of the Swedish Food Agency's recently released dietary guidelines.Elin is a postdoctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences working for the Future Agriculture initiative at the same university, which is a strategic multidisciplinary research platform that addresses the sustainable use of natural resources with emphasis on agricultural production and food systems. Currently she is visiting the Food Group at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, working with future scenarios for protein production and consumption, and engaged in the FCRN network.

In this piece, Mike Hamm continues his thread on urban food systems, expanding into the nuances of production.This post is written by Michael W. Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Mike is also a Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College and the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and an FCRN network member.

In this piece, FCRN-member Professor Michael Hamm discusses a number of contested issues linked to the challenges posed by growing urbanisation. This is the first in a short series of postings by Mike in which he explores the value of city-region food systems, obstacles to their development, and possible ways forward. Read the following parts in the blog-series by following these links:  Part II – Who Will Farm?, Part IIIA – Scale and Production Strategy and finally Part IIIB - Scale and Production Strategy.This post is written by Michael W. Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Mike is also a Visiting Fellow of Mansfield College and the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and an FCRN network member.