This book outlines historical revolutions in the global food system and calls for the global food system to become more diverse in many aspects, including crop species, production systems and farming cultures. 

This report from the John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future addresses a common concern among urban farming communities: is food grown in the city safe to eat? Focusing on Baltimore, it finds that soil, water and produce from the urban farms and gardens studied have safe levels of harmful metals, with some rare exceptions. TABLE staff member Matthew Kessler contributed to this project. 

This report from UK NGO Eating Better finds that 80% of UK public sector caterers surveyed  - including schools, healthcare and universities - have committed to reducing meat content in their menus, with 83% increasing the amount of beans and pulses they offer. 60% have been using more meat replacement products, 60% said they were using less pork and processed meat, and 56% said they were reducing or removing meat-based dishes from the menu cycle. Over 20% of caterers say they are using more chicken in their dishes. The changes are attributed primarily to concerns about climate, health, nature and animal welfare. 

This report from the UN Environment Programme synthesises evidence on the degradation of the world’s ecosystems, sets out the economic, environmental and social benefits of ecosystem restoration, and calls for individuals and organisations to contribute - including by reducing food waste, using farmland more efficiently, and encouraging a shift towards more plant-based diets.

Investments in nature-based solutions such as ecosystem restoration and afforestation need to triple by 2030 to meet the world’s climate, biodiversity and land degradation targets, finds this report from the UN Environment Programme. By 2050, annual spending will need to reach US $536 billion - around four times today’s spending levels.

This report from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food profiles how various food initiatives have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of demonstrating that transformative food system change is possible. Case studies include a non-profit distributor of sustainably grown food in Philadelphia, a food bank in Lagos, Fiji’s Ministry of Agriculture and “solidarity kitchens” in Rio de Janeiro.

This paper proposes a “Sustainability Compass” that uses a hierarchical approach to define sustainability scores for four aspects of food systems: health, environment, economy and equity. The framework is designed to evaluate food policies, including by drawing attention to trade-offs and synergies across different goals. The paper suggests that the Compass can be used during agenda setting, policy formulation, decision-making and policy evaluation.

This modelling paper, co-authored by TABLE member Elin Röös, examines the synergies and goal conflicts that could arise from different food taxation scenarios in Sweden. It finds that while taxing foods can reduce most environmental impacts, one scenario - reducing tax on plant-based products - might cause increases in environmental impacts by encouraging higher total food consumption. It also examines the trade-offs for land use and biodiversity protection associated with limiting beef consumption through taxation.

This perspective article by Jennifer Clapp examines the effects of corporate consolidation in the global seed and agrochemical industry. Clapp argues that corporations in this sector with concentrated power can influence the wider food system in many ways, including by influencing markets, technology and governance. The global seed and agrochemical sector is dominated by just four firms - Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina-Syngenta and BASF - down from six in the early 2000s.