This report from UK think tank Chatham House uses a literature review to identify three key levers that, it argues, are all essential for transforming food systems: encouraging plant-based diets, setting aside land for nature, and shifting to more sustainable farming.

This paper describes a method for irrigating agricultural soils in areas that are prone to drought or do not have access to water supplies. The system is based on a “super moisture absorbent gel” (SMAG), which absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and then releases it to the crops when heated by the sun. 

This paper, co-authored by Table member Simon Lloyd, simulates the likely implications for hunger and health of subsistence farmers either using a “peasant” (agroecological) or an “entrepreneurial” (input-heavy) style of farming, under a range of scenarios for climate and policy. The paper aims to move away from approaches to food security research that focus on the quantity and quality of food available, and towards one that considers the social and political factors that influence access to food and the viability of different farming options. The study models a generic landscape that is not intended to represent a particular location.

This paper discusses the ways in which nature-based solutions (NbS) to climate change and biodiversity loss are framed and understood, and traces the growth of interest in NbS among researchers, governments, NGOs and the private sector. It sets out four guiding principles for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to implement NbS in ways that provide benefits to the environment and society. 

This opinion piece in Responsible Investor, by Rachel Crossley and Katie Gordon (both advisors to the Access to Nutrition Initiative), argues that nutrition is becoming an increasingly important issue for investors. The authors point to the economic impacts of malnutrition, growing consumer demand for healthy foods, and regulation by governments such as sugar taxes and marketing restrictions.

The Nordic Food Policy Lab has produced an online “Cookbook for systems change”, co-authored by former Table colleague Marie Persson. Using a “mission-based” approach, the Cookbook sets out strategies that can be used to trigger food systems innovation. It is primarily aimed at national and regional government innovation bodies, but also discusses the role that entrepreneurs, civil society and researchers can play.

Recordings of sessions from Oxford Real Farming Conference Global 2021 are now available to everyone on YouTube. There are 219 recordings covering a wide range of topics related to agroecology, including organic and regenerative agriculture and indigenous systems.

This book, based on the Planetary Health Diet produced by the EAT-Lancet Commission, discusses how dietary patterns influence health and the environment and make recommendations for which food groups to favour and which to avoid.

This book uses food as a lens to explore the history of human development. It explores the links between food and exploration, colonialism, slavery and capitalism, as well as the environmental implications of current industrialised food systems.