Snippets

10-year high for global food prices Posted in: Affordability, Animal Food Sources, Cost, Food Systems, Production, Sustainability, Vegetable Food Sources Earlier this year, the FAO reported the highest global food prices in a decade, driven by a collection of factors. The economics of the food system play an important role in sustainable nutrition, but can be challenging to understand or influence given the complex system that they operate in. The FAO Food Price Index measures… read more...
The strength of dairy in the diets of the elderly Posted in: Animal Food Sources, Diet, Health, Mortality, Nutrition Read the article A study published recently in the British Medical Journal indicated positive links between dairy intake and significant reductions in bone fractures and falls among the elderly. The randomised controlled trial took place over a two-year period in 60 aged care facilities in Victoria, Australia. Half of the 7,000 participants continued with their… read more...
Is lab-grown meat really all it steaks up to be? Posted in: Affordability, Animal Food Sources, Cost, Production The Good Food Institute recently commissioned a techno-economic analysis projecting the future costs of producing lab-grown meat, that has since seen backlash as lab-grown meat’s inevitability is put to question. The report models the cost of producing lab-grown meat at industrial scale following various future scenarios to build a timeline out to 2030. The modelling… read more...
Combined nutrition and environmental scoring Posted in: Animal Food Sources, Climate, Diet, Health, Nutrition, Sustainability Read the article A recent study of Belgian consumers has indicated that product labelling has the potential to improve the nutritional quality of food choices, but was less successful for improving the environmental impacts. The Nutri-Score label, a traffic light-style graphic capturing nutritional quality to be displayed on food packaging, is widely used on products… read more...
Will pollinators take our food supply with them as populations plunge? Posted in: Food Sourcers, Food Systems, Production, Sustainability, Vegetable Food Sources Read the article A conference proceeding from a symposium held by the Entomological Society of America was published early this year, discussing claims of pollinator insect decline and the many threats these populations face. It offers critical insight when preparing for future scenarios that put crop yields at risk. Bees, wasps, butterflies and other insects… read more...
More about what you eat, and less about how much Posted in: Diet, Energy Consumption, Food Systems, Health, Mortality, Nutrition Read the article A recent article in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has highlighted the inconsistency of rising obesity rates despite focused efforts to eat less and exercise more. The paper critiques the current energy balance model (EBM) and offers a review of an alternative model that considers the underlying biological processes at play.… read more...
Recognising the diversity of novel foods Posted in: Food Sourcers, Food Systems, Production Read the article Researchers from the University of Cambridge (UK) recently published an article in Nature Food with a different perspective on novel food production methods. Discussion of the high-profile novel foods, such as lab-grown meat, and the ways in which novel foods may reduce the environmental impact of food production, are widespread. However, these… read more...
The many facets of food waste Posted in: Food Systems, Nutrition, Sustainability, Vegetable Food Sources, Waste Read the article In a scoping review of the literature around food losses and waste, authors in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health identified the links between unconsumed food and nutrition, health and environmental impacts. Food losses refer to food that does not reach the retail stage, due to losses on farm… read more...
Apocalypse Cow Posted in: Animal Food Sources, Climate, Food Systems, Livestock, Nutrition, Production, Sustainability Read the article In the scramble to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) quickly, a world without methane producing cows is one of the more extreme solutions that has been explored. Inspired by the large-scale change on our environment caused by COVID-19 restrictions, a unique study in Nutrition Today has considered the impact of a dairy-free world.… read more...
The inaccurate claims made of smallholder farm food production Posted in: Food Sourcers, Food Systems, Production Read the article A recent online review and related scientific article have identified the inconsistent use of the term “smallholder farm” and re-examined their contribution to the world’s food supply. They found that smallholders produce about one-third of the world’s food, less than half of what many headlines claim. Smallholdings are defined as farms under… read more...