Hannah Ritchie, Head of Research at Our World in Data, has launched a new email newsletter called Sustainability by numbers, which discusses the numbers and data that are important for building a sustainable world. TABLE readers may be particularly interested in the issues Eating local is still not a good way to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet and Are meat substitutes really better for the environment than meat?

This book explores the ethical, environmental and social issues linked to different forms of dairy production around the world, including smallholder production and intensive feedlots. It also discusses the shift towards plant-based substitutes for dairy.

This book explores the conversations around rewilding, food, eating and identities that are currently happening across Europe. It has sections on hunting, “natural” products (such as wine) on the market, and rewilding in the context of cities and the self.

The five largest meat companies and ten largest dairy companies have combined methane emissions of over 80% of the European Union’s methane footprint, according to this report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Changing Markets Foundation. The report recommends that governments set legally binding GHG and methane-specific reduction targets for the agriculture sector, with the aim to keep climate warming to less than 1.5°C.

The 2022 edition of the Global Nutrition Report discusses the commitments on tackling malnutrition made by a range of stakeholders, including governments, donors, civil society, businesses and international organisations.

Farmers in the UK are receiving only a tiny fraction of the supermarket price of five common foods - often receiving less than a penny of the purchase price - according to this report from UK NGO Sustain. Other stages of the supply chain - notably processors and retailers - often receive a much greater portion of the profit. The report also notes that growers could receive more profit by supplying through alternative supply chains, such as non-profit food hubs.

Research programme PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience) has released six short briefing papers on the links between extensive, mobile pastoralist systems, biodiversity and conservation. Each paper is available in English, French and Spanish.

This paper reviews the evidence on how consumption of sustainable diets links to the risk of cancer in adults. It identified eight cohort studies, which were conducted in Europe and the United States and which used differing definitions of sustainable diets including definitions based on greenhouse gas emissions, food biodiversity, land use, pesticide exposure, adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and score on a sustainability index. Most studies showed a modest correlation between higher adherence to sustainable diets and lower incidence of cancer and cancer mortality. However, most of the studies were considered to have a serious risk of bias because of confounding factors.

This paper argues that “agriculture for nutrition” interventions in low and middle income countries are overly narrow in scope and neglect the wider political, economic, social and cultural factors that affect food and (mal)nutrition.