With 122 million more people hungry in 2022 than in 2019, the latest UN State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report highlights that the world is regressing in its goal to end world hunger by 2030. The report highlights that there has been a deterioration in nutrition goals since the outbreak of the pandemic, with around 700 million people (compared to 579 million in 2019) not having enough to eat and a further 3 billion unable to afford a healthy diet. 

The authors of this article present a multi-layer network model that analyses the propagation of shocks in the global food trade system. The authors recognise that shocks, such as extreme weather events and political or geopolitical crises, have become more frequent over time. They therefore propose a model that simulates the complex interactions between countries, production processes, trade networks, and product allocation to study the impact of production shocks on food availability in different countries or regions.

The dramatic increases in agricultural yields over the 20th century have been supported by the broad spread application of fertiliser containing, amongst other elements, phosphorus. Whilst phosphate can be obtained from mining, the vast majority is obtained from cheap sulphur, which is a byproduct of refining fossil fuels. As the energy sector decarbonises, there will therefore be a large decrease in the availability of sulphur, leading to a rapid increase in price.  

The conflict in Ukraine has spotlighted significant insecurities in the global food system. Many countries with restricted access to imported staples have seen their food prices soaring and populations become increasingly food insecure, with effects most pronounced in the world’s poorest countries who tend to be import reliant. This paper highlights the impacts of current international crises on food security, highlights over-reliance on imports as the major threat to food security, and offers four suggestions as to how food systems can be diversified to enhance future food security

Leaked internal documents from Syngenta reveal how the company has repeatedly buried evidence that links its best selling herbicide Paraquat with Parkinson’s disease. The documents reveal a history of tactics to confound scientific research including; funding scientists and researchers to publish papers on Paraquat without disclosing conflicts of interest, enlisting lawyers to push scientists away from using “problematic language” and preventing a prominent scientist studying Parkinson’s from sitting on the US Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel, which regulates US pesticide usage.

The food system campaigners Feedback have won an appeal to challenge the legality of the UK’s Food Strategy, which was published by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in June 2022. The campaigners argue that the strategy is unlawful for failing to take into account duties to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

By analysing the results of several case studies this book assesses the impacts of land tenure reform interventions implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. It focuses on how these interventions impacted tenure security, agricultural productivity, and social inclusion under different socio-political and economic contexts. The authors argue that inadequate attention paid to the core characteristics of rural social systems obscures the benefits of achieving tenure while overlooking the potential for social reform.   

In July 2019, Ben Goldsmith lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, Iris, in an accident on their family farm in Somerset. This book explores how he found solace, healing, and hope in nature as he set about rewilding his farm. Ben tells a powerful, immersive and inspiring story of finding comfort and strength in nature in the darkest of times

Using ethnographic research, Valeria Siniscalchi peels back the curtain on the daily goings on of the famous grassroots food movement, Slow Food. The Slow Food organisation was formed in Italy to promote the values of slow, local and traditional food practices based around community values and sustainable environmental practices. Through engaging with the contradictions, complexities and ambiguities of the movement, Valeria shines a light on one of the most high-profile and controversial food movements of the last thirty years.