This opinion article suggests that microbial biomass from bacteria, yeasts, or fungi could be used as human food and animal feed, with the advantage of using less land compared to conventional crop production, particularly if feedstocks were derived directly from atmospheric carbon dioxide.

This book offers a cross-disciplinary collection of perspectives on the many sustainability issues facing the global food system today. Topics include food insecurity, healthy diets, organic food, food among refugees and food waste management strategies.

This report, commissioned by the UK’s Labour Party, proposes major reforms in land governance in the UK including the establishment of a Common Ground Trust (see below). FCRN readers may be particularly interested in the report’s recommendations surrounding agriculture and farmland.

Following consultation with fishers and marine conservation experts, the UK government has created new Marine Conservation Zones around the English coast, taking the UK’s total protected areas of ocean to over twice the size of England. However, some critics question whether the protected areas are actually beneficial to wildlife.

This report details the findings of a seven-month bike tour of rural communities in the UK carried out by the RSA Food Farming & Countryside Commission. It gives an account of rural life in the UK, covering topics such as extreme weather (and its impact on farming), housing prices, flood risk, sheep farming, closure of rural businesses and the potential impact of Brexit on trading across the Northern Irish border with the Republic of Ireland.

According to this randomised controlled trial, people eat an average of 500 kcal more per day when offered ultra-processed food compared to unprocessed food (as defined by the NOVA system). Furthermore, the trial subjects gained weight on the ultra-processed diet and lost weight on the unprocessed diet.

College students who take a course on food and the environment reduce their reported ruminant meat consumption by 28% relative to their consumption prior to the course, according to this paper by FCRN member Jennifer Jay of UCLA Civil and Environmental Engineering.

This report from the Eating Better Alliance surveys 620 sandwiches available from retailers in the UK. It finds that 85% of sandwiches on the market still have meat, fish or cheese as their main ingredient, and only two sandwiches had any “better meat” certification (RSPCA Assured logos).

The US-based Good Food Institute, which promotes plant-based foods and lab-cultured meat, has produced two State of the Industry Reports on plant-based and cell-based foods. The report outline industry developments during 2018, list the main industry actors, discuss regulatory updates in the United States, and analyse investment trends.