This systematic review assesses the evidence base of the environmental and health impacts of novel plant-based foods (NPBFs) as compared to animal-based foods (ABFs) in food secure, high-income countries. NPBFs are defined by the researchers as new food products designed to mimic and replace ABFs and be added into habitual diets; examples include vegan meat or plant-based dairy. The researchers find that generally, NPBFs have better health outcomes and better environmental outcomes compared to ABFs. These results, however, vary by product type and context and they warn that caution should be given in the development of dietary guidelines. The authors suggest future research and policy should seek to develop more granular categories of NPBFs that account for these complex and often contextual health and environmental issues.

This article collection details several case studies related to assessing the barriers and opportunities for a sustainable food system transformation. This, for the authors, means an increased consumption of plant-based foods and lower levels of meat and dairy consumption, especially in the global North. The collection seeks to challenge incumbent actors and structures which the authors claim resist the critical transformative changes required whilst fostering new values, norms, and paradigms that could contribute to the societal change necessary for food system transformation. The case studies cover topics such as the polarisation of the animal-free and animal-centric food system narratives, new and alternative protein industries, different socioeconomic systems of agriculture and unique perspectives on human-animal relationships.

Smallholder farmers, pastoralists and indigenous people face unprecedented threats to their land, according to a new report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES FOOD). The report explores the different drivers of land grabbing such as the fight for water and actors such as carbon off-setters and reveals that 1% of farms account for 70% of global farmland.

This report provides comprehensive data regarding the current state of the global agri-food system at country level. It highlights the most cost effective points of intervention to reduce emissions associated with the agri-food sector, including land and soil management strategies, dietary shifts, and the protection and restoration of forests.

This report by NGOs Sustain and Friends of the Earth calculates the quantities of manure that 10 UK livestock corporations produce – estimated at more than the 10 of the UK’s cities combined and how this directly contributes to the ecological decline of rivers. The report argues intensive agriculture is the main source of river pollution in the UK, not water companies, but reveals that only half of the ten agribusinesses mentioned have publicly available strategies to prevent pollution, and most lack detail and targets. 

This book introduces the concept of the more-than-human to students and postgraduates engaged in geography and social science theory. The text offers valuable case studies which illustrate the implications of the more-than-human development and what future issues still need to be addressed.

This book offers an introduction to food studies, a multidisciplinary field concerned with animal welfare, the impact of climate change on food production, the nutrition of various food items, and fair, equitable and just working conditions for food labourers and workers. The book is a collection of essays from faculty members and graduates of the NYU Food Studies program

This book by Access Agriculture, a non-profit organisation supporting agroecology and organic farming supported by the European Commission and the FAO, details youth engagement in agriculture as a critical area in Africa and India. The book provides an introduction of the importance of young entrepreneurs in agriculture and follows with a substantial number of case studies and stories from young entrepreneurs from many African nations and Indian states. 

There has been much media spotlight on the World Bank’s entry into the meat debate with its new report calling on governments in wealthier countries to shift subsidies from high-emitting red meat and dairy to lower-emitting poultry, vegetables and fruits. POLITICO said the report was bound to make conservatives apoplectic, while Climate Home News analysed why the meat has become a “political hot potato”. TABLE’s explainer, Meat, metrics and mindset, and the podcast Meat: The Four Futures explores the meat debate and why it’s about more than science, it’s about emotions.