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We take an in-depth look at how we can work towards flourishing local food systems that build communities, increase food security for all, and provide a fair return to farmers and growers.

In the suburb of Oosterwold, a living experiment in urban agriculture, the 5,000 inhabitants find different creative ways to fulfil the unique stipulation

The long read: Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria

This paper examines a Slow Food–sponsored project to recreate and promote Serpa Velho, a hard aged cheese historically produced in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The authors examine the historical ...

Abstract Self-help and mutual aid have been at the heart of the consumer cooperative movement and its response to food insecurity since its inception. Yet how these terms are conceptualized and practiced in contemporary food co-ops often has more to do with their individual histories, ideologies, and the values of those involved than it does the history of the cooperative movement. Drawing on ethnographic examples from two London-based food co-ops with different backgrounds, this article explores how each enacts ideals of aid and exchange. It argues that the context of austerity creates “awkwardnesses” between and within personal values and organizational structures in the face of inequality, leading to blurred boundaries between different models of aid and exchange and the forms of moral accounting that these entail.

Abstract. This book chronicles the history of food. It starts with the Columbian Exchange, a term coined in 1972 by the historian Alfred Crosby to refer to

“Eat local” is a common recommendation to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet. How does the impact of what you eat compare to where it's come from?

As an apparent counterpoint to globalization, food system localization is often assumed to be a good, progressive and desirable process. Such thinking…

Visions of food sovereignty have been extremely important in helping to galvanize broad-based and diverse movements around the need for radical changes in agro-food systems. Yet while food sovereig...

The steep and stark environmental decline was not supposed to happen under the common agricultural policy

Set up to conserve traditional seeds, the Genetic Resources Research Institute is now helping smallholders diversify with crops resilient to the rapid changes in climate

The terms food security and food sovereignty originally emerged as separate terms to describe different things. The former is a concept that describes a conditi...

A 10-part series exploring the social, economic and political barriers to meaningful global climate action.

The decision in June 2016 by the UK to leave the EU found government departments responsible for domestic agriculture without detailed plans for a post-Brexit national agricultural policy. In Februar...

A proposed agriculture bill fails to fix it The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has exposed fundamental weaknesses in UK society. Some fragile systems, such as social care, remained in the spotlight as the pandemic developed, but others attracted only fleeting attention—including the food system.1 Obesity, driven to a considerable extent by a food system that encourages consumption of cheap, energy dense products, quickly emerged as a leading risk factor for covid-19 mortality,2 but this was not the only interaction between food and covid-19. The early stages of the pandemic saw empty supermarket shelves and rationing of basic commodities. Closure of schools and loss of free school meals left many already disadvantaged children facing severe food insecurity. The UK’s food supply is fragile at the best of times. The country imports 47% of its food, including 84% of its fresh fruit,3 and depends critically on a just-in-time supply chain, with little capacity to withstand shocks.4 The Agriculture Bill 2019-21, the first new legislation on food and farming …

Nature Food - The social impacts of food supply chains on people, animals and communities need to be integrated into sustainable dietary transformations. Here the social dimension of sustainable...

This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the market systems and governmental policies that link natural resources and the environment to food.

A special feature on reforming land for sustainable food

A landmark film narrated by Jeremy Irons. Find out more at seedsoffreedom.infoThe story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It's be...

Justin Rowlatt tells the story of how our planet was made

5 episodes

Marcus Rashford has spoken eloquently about what happens when the government does not provide adequate support for food-insecure families. Children we interviewed said the same thing.

This presentation was held during the 50th Anniversary Summit of the Club of Rome on 17-18 October 2018 in Rome. It is part of the Keynote Debate: "50 Years ...

The true story of "The Limits to Growth": the backlash, its legacy.