This report from IPES-Food finds that 60% of low-income countries and 30% of middle-income countries are in or are at risk of debt distress, with 21 countries facing both debt distress and food insecurity. The report identifies four ways in which food systems are contributing to pressure on public finances: dependencies on imports and the dollar; extractive financial flows; boom-bust commodity cycles; and climate change. It calls for policymakers to provide debt relief as well as support for food system reform.

This paper reviews the potential contribution of microbial foods to a healthy, resilient and sustainable food system. It covers three main categories: traditional fermented foods such as wine, yoghurt and kimchi; microbial biomass, where the microbes themselves are directly consumed, for example the mycoprotein used in Quorn products; and “cell factories”, otherwise known as precision fermentation, where microbes are genetically modified to produce certain molecules.

This paper studies how a top-down (i.e. state-led) food sovereignty policy in Bolivia was negatively impacted by the “corporate food regime”. Food sovereignty was included as a central element of Bolivia’s new constitution in 2009, and regulations were introduced to prioritise food from small-scale farmers in school feeding programmes.

This paper calculates the carbon footprints and dietary quality score of six dietary patterns based on consumption data from the United States: vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, keto, paleo and omnivorous diets. All of these diets were loosely defined (e.g. vegetarian diets are those with less than 14 grams of meat and seafood per day) to allow some deviation from the strict conventional definitions of these diets. Pescatarian diets scored as the most healthy, and vegan diets had the lowest carbon footprint.

This paper estimates that the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet, which is low in animal products, does not provide sufficient levels of vitamin B12, calcium, iron and zinc. The calculations assume no supplementation or fortification. The authors recommend modifying the EAT-Lancet diet by increasing the levels of animal sourced foods and reducing foods high in phytate.

This article by The Good Food Institute explores global trends in investment in alternative proteins during 2022. Alternative protein companies raised $2.9 billion globally in 2022 - a 42% decrease compared to 2021, which followed several years of increasing global investment in alternative proteins. The article attributes 2022’s lower investment to broader market conditions, as economy-wide private venture funding also declined 35% in 2022. The article also sets out the results of an investor survey showing that 99% of respondents remain optimistic about the alternative protein sector in the long term.

A consensus statement on a shared vision of the future for the food system has been published by WWF-UK and co-signed by representatives of several UK organisations, including Pasture for Life, the Soil Association, the Eating Better Alliance and the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. The statement says that the food system should make space for nature both on farms and in wider landscapes; that farmers should be supported in reducing their use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers; that regenerative soil management should become the norm; and that technology can play a role in sustainable food production. The statement also criticises intensive livestock production and the marketing of unhealthy ultra-processed foods. It does not call for a reduction in animal product consumption.

NGO Feedback has published a website, Big Livestock's Big Greenwash, outlining the marketing strategies used by large livestock companies, including: reporting emissions and climate targets in ways that appear to show more progress than has happened; focusing on technological options (e.g. feed additives) to increase efficiency without reducing meat and dairy production; downplaying the climate impact of livestock; and building narratives that argue livestock production is good for farmer wellbeing, food security and traditional meat-based diets. Feedback argues that these strategies amount to greenwash.

Video recordings from the 2023 Oxford Real Farming Conference are now available online, covering a wide range of topics from agroecology and seaweed to land justice, regenerative farming and philanthropy.