This paper examines trends in the consumption of plant-based alternative foods (PBAF) in the UK between 2008 and 2019. It defines PBAF as products made from plant or fungal ingredients that aim to mimic animal-based equivalents such as meat or milk. It finds that the proportion of people reporting any consumption of PBAF has nearly doubled to 13.1%.

This paper analyses six themes that emerge from discourse on regenerative agriculture and identifies three opportunities for how to use discourse to transform “industrial-productivist” agriculture.

This paper compares the costs of various dietary patterns (including flexitarian, pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan) in 150 countries. It also estimates diet-related healthcare costs for each diet as well as climate change costs. The cost of these alternative diets compared to current diets varies strongly by country as well as by whether healthcare and climate costs were included.

This paper analyses the concept of “trust” in relation to engaging “Big Food” in food systems transformations. Drawing on case studies on plastic packaging and the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the authors argue that the role of large multinational corporations should be limited to responding to requests for information and adhering to regulation. “Big Food” should not be involved in setting research or policy agendas, says the paper.

The International Journal of Health Policy and Management has released a special issue on the political economy of food systems, including an editorial, eight review articles and 11 original articles. 

This report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics examines the social and ethical issues that could arise from applying genome editing to farmed animals. While genome editing could help address some food systems challenges, for example by giving animals greater resistance to some diseases, it also may lead to less attention being paid to animal welfare.

The 2021 edition of the Global Nutrition Report examines progress towards global nutrition targets, the impact of diets on health and the environment, the nutrition financing landscape, and reporting on Nutrition for Growth commitments.