This book outlines the history of agricultural policy in the US from its colonial roots to the present, and uses economic concepts to interpret the political and economic consequences. It also discusses shocks such as trade wars and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this book, environmentalist George Monbiot explores how we can feed everyone while using less land. He speaks to farmers and scientists using new methods to grow food, including perennial grains, farming without ploughing, and precision fermentation of protein and fat.

This research brief from the Centre for Food Policy summarises which government departments in Australia are responsible for food policy. An infographic shows the role of each of 11 departments that have a connection to food.

Governments must act now to make societies and economies more resilient to shocks such as COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, argues this report from UK-based international affairs think tank Chatham House. The Russia-Ukraine crisis is amplifying food insecurity and the cost of living crisis that had already followed the COVID-19 pandemic, and risks triggering a “cascade” of supply chain disruptions, market volatility, resource insecurity, the displacement of people and geopolitical upheaval. The potential for simultaneous price or supply shocks in food and energy, including those induced by climate change, is growing.

Researchers from the University of Manchester argue that the widespread switch to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how academia can function in the future without flying, to reduce carbon emissions. They set out recommendations on how to retain low levels of aviation, including combining necessary trips, supporting cultural changes by improving virtual methods of working, and considering using carbon budgets for travel.

This paper models the impacts of a “degrowth” approach to reducing the environmental impacts of the global food system. It finds that reducing and redistributing income, alone, leads to only limited climate mitigation from food systems, because the shift towards unsustainable diets occurs at low income levels. Instead, a “sustainable transformation” scenario (incorporating income redistribution, and “efficiency-based” carbon tax, a shift towards the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet, and reduced food waste) is able to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions for the food system by 2100.

This paper sets out 26 research priorities related to improving food environments, nutrition and health in Africa, based on the first Africa Food Environment Research Network Meeting. The research priorities focus broadly on understanding the key drivers of food consumption and acquisition, and on interventions and policies to improve food environments.

This paper examines the impacts of methane on climate, ecosystems and air pollution. It argues that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change limits its regulation of methane to the climate impacts of methane on a 100-year timeframe, ignoring both near-term climate impacts and wider impacts.

In this podcast by the Sustainable Food Trust, molecular geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou explains how regulation of gene editing is changing in the UK, as well as the potential health risks of gene editing.