This policy brief from Climate Advisers and the Good Food Institute suggests that alternative proteins (both plant-based and cultivated, i.e. lab-grown, options) are important for food security around the world and national security in the United States. It argues that feeding edible crops to livestock drives up the price of staple crops, negatively affects the quantity of food available to people, and makes food reliant on long, fragile supply chains (e.g. at risk of zoonotic disease outbreaks).

This discussion paper from the UK’s Food Research Collaboration discusses meetings that happened between lobbyists and policymakers when the UK government was developing restrictions on promoting foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). It shows that most of the relevant meetings were with media and advertising interests as opposed to directly with food companies. It als notes that some exemptions and loopholes were introduced that made the final legislation less strict than the initial proposals.

This briefing note from IPES Food explores the evolution of three terms: ‘agroecology’, ‘nature-based solutions’, and ‘regenerative agriculture’. It also examines how the terms have been used at the United Nations Food Systems Summit, COP26 and the 15th conference of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as by funders and agrifood corporations.

Current climate mitigation pledges made as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change rely on unrealistic amounts of land-based carbon sequestration, according to this report. 1.2 billion hectares of land would be needed - almost as much as the current global extent of cropland - and there could be significant negative impacts on food production, sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers, and indigenous peoples’ rights.

Increasing demand for animal-sourced foods is creating a “trap” where both options for meeting that demand - intensive versus extensive farming methods - each bring their own risks for the emergence and spread of infectious zoonotic diseases, according to this paper. The author sets out recommendations for managing zoonotic disease risks from livestock.

This paper reviews the literature on the sustainability of four technologies that are being developed for use in sustainable food systems: vertical farming, plant-based alternatives, food delivery services and blockchain in food systems. These four technologies were chosen because they have recently attracted significant investments in the Nordic region.

This paper maps the location and cumulative magnitude of the environmental pressures (greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, habitat disturbance and nutrient pollution) caused by both aquatic and land-based food production across the globe.

The New Zealand government has announced proposals to introduce farm-level taxes for agricultural emissions, with the aim of incentivising farmers to adopt climate mitigation measures. The plans involve pricing long-lived greenhouse gases and biogenic methane separately; farmers who meet certain thresholds for livestock numbers or fertiliser use will pay a bill that depends on their farm areas, livestock numbers and production, and nitrogen fertiliser use; incentive payments (funded by the tax) will be made to farmers who adopt a range of emissions reduction measures; additional payments will be made to farmers who sequester carbon through managing indigenous vegetation. A consultation on the proposals is open until 18 November 2022.

In the UK, average prices for a representative “basket” of food and non-alcoholic beverages have risen by 14.6% in the 12 months to September 2022, driven in particular by increases in the prices of bread and cereals, meat, milk, cheese and eggs. The statistics are from the UK’s Office for National Statistics.