Continued unrest of the farming population of France has lead the French government to promise to ensure food retailers agree to share revenues fairly with producers. This Bloomberg article details the statements made by French officials and connects the political activity of farmers in France with other movements in Europe. 

This report from the Corporate Accountability Lab explores how American fair trade organisations protect the image of corporations more than the rights of their workers by analysing case studies on horticultural farms in Mexico.

Russia has pulled out of the Black Seas Grain Initiative, risking the loss of millions of tonnes of food from the global market. The landmark deal made last summer provided assurance that ships entering and leaving ports in Ukraine would not be attacked. This allowed 32.9 mn tonnes of food to be exported to food insecure regions in Africa, the Middle East and Asia since August. The Kremlin announced on Monday that Russia would suspend the initiative until its demand to get its own agricultural shipments to the world are met, despite the fact that Russia has been exporting record quantities of wheat and fertilisers.

This paper explores how the agricultural sector in the European Union (EU) might be affected by partial shifts in European consumers’ diets towards the EAT-Lancet reference diet. The impacts vary by sector, with the production of animal-sourced foods likely to fall and production of fruit and vegetables likely to increase. Overall, agricultural income is projected to rise as a result of the dietary shifts.

This study examines domestic and imported supplies of five micronutrients (vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium and zinc) to the United Kingdom over the period 1961 to 2017, with the aim of assessing how future post-Brexit trade arrangements and also shifts towards plant-based diets might affect the security of the supply of these micronutrients.

This report from UK NGO Sustain examines how a proposed trade deal between the UK and Brazil - on which discussions are still only in the early stages - might increase harm caused by pesticides. Pesticide regulations have weakened since Bolsonaro took power in 2019, with harm to environmental or human health no longer informing whether a pesticide should be approved for use.

A number of media articles have raised concerns about the potential food security impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for other countries that rely on food exports. We have put together a round-up of relevant news articles.

This book discusses how the governance of British agriculture will be affected by the UK’s exit from the European Union. It looks at profitability, farmers’ rights, environmental protection and animal welfare.

This report from WWF argues that imports of commodities (including soy, beef, shrimp, rubber, palm oil and wheat) to the European Union are driving the destruction of many types of ecosystems. It stresses the importance of considering not just deforestation, but also the conversion of grasslands, savannahs, peatlands, shrublands and wetlands, and sets out policy recommendations.