Sustainability is high on the agenda for the food industry, but many companies are not actively monitoring or measuring the sustainability of the ingredients and products they source. These findings come from a new report, Driving Sustainability, from LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming). 

This report is a summary of the efforts of LiveWell for LIFE and the Network of European Food Stakeholders to find the most important social and economic barriers and opportunities for sustainable diets in Spain, France and Sweden and in the wider EU.

Greenhouse gases fell by 3.3 % in the EU in 2011, leading to the lowest level of emissions in reports going back to 1990. At the same time the EU experienced a 1.6 % growth in GDP. The decrease in 2011 was also the third largest over this period, according to official data compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and reported by the EU to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This report was published on behalf of UK MPs who sit on the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development.  It was launched to coincide with the international event organised by the UK government as part of its presidency of the G8. The event was held for members of the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and focused on: ‘Nutrition for Growth: Beating hunger through nutrition and science.’

Maternal and child undernutrition was the subject of a Series of papers in The Lancet in 2008. Five years after the initial series, the Lancet re-evaluates the problems of maternal and child undernutrition and also examines the growing problems of overweight and obesity for women and children, and their consequences in low-income and middle-income countries.

For those interested in the current EU CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) reforms, you may find this blog useful. It provides news, views and analysis relating to what is going on, bringing together the work of researchers, activists and analysts from across Europe and elsewhere.

One of FCRN’s network members, Holly Cecil, has produced a documentary entitled Eating for a Healthy Planet – A conversation with Canadians.  Launched on Earth Day 2013, the documentary addresses the links between diets and the environment. It was produced under the auspices of the Human Dimensions of Climate Change program at the University of Victoria (BC).

In this book Michael S. Carolan argues that the goal of any food system should not simply be to provide the cheapest calories possible. Rather, a secure food system is one that affords people and nations – in both the present and future – the capabilities to prosper and lead long, happy, and healthy lives. For a variety of reasons, food security has come to be synonymous with cheap calorie security. 

This CCAFS blogpost by Timm Tennigkeit and Andreas Wilkes argues that agriculture is a major driver of deforestation, but offers great mitigation potential if managed properly. The authors’ recently released research report finds that emission reduction approaches can also be cost competitive.