The 2015 World Health Day took place on April 7th, and it focused on the theme of Food Safety. With this day in mind, the  Global Climate and Health Alliance has published a new briefing paper on climate change and food safety.

This publication provides information on using price policies to promote healthy diets and explores policy developments from around the WHO European Region. It examines the economic theory underpinning the use of subsidies and taxation and explores the available evidence.

In a recent brief for the UN Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) a group of researchers, including Tara Garnett of the FCRN, proposed that well-designed policies targeting the demand for particular foods could simultaneously improve the health of the global population and achieve environmental sustainability.

This paper finds that consumption of high-fat yoghurt and cheese are linked to reduced risks of developing type 2 diabetes – reducing these risks by as much as a fifth. High meat consumption, on the other hand, is linked to a higher risk, regardless of the fat content of the meat. These results are in line with previous studies of eating habits that indicated a link between high consumption of dairy products and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

This short article discusses policies for achieving food security and environmental objectives in China. Rural development has been placed at the top of the policy agenda in China but recently the Chinese leadership has also included an ambition to achieve environmental sustainability. This is presented as part of the plans for an “ecological civilization”, presented at the 18th Plenary Congress of the Communist Party of China.

This paper focuses on the governance of food supplies and specifically discusses the increasing policy focus on engaging food industry in the international pursuit of sustainability. The researchers also look at policy actions aimed at achieving sustainable consumption and production of food.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) reports that the Australian beef industry has reduced its environmental footprint over the past 30 years. The results are presented in a new paper in Agricultural Systems, and in a press-release MLA writes that:

In a new video published by the Royal Society in their 'Science stories' series (which charts 350 years of scientific publishing at the Royal Society) Dr Paul Williams, a meteorologist in NERC's National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, considers why it is that scientific questions so often turn into full-blown and acrimonious controversies.

This paper discusses urban farmers’ markets in relation to food accessibility, the type and variety of foods they offer and their price and quality. This US based study is the first to itemize farmers’ market products in an entire urban county—in this case the Bronx—and compare them with what is available in nearby stores. It finds that farmers’ markets located in urban areas may not contribute positively to nutrition or health.