Edward Robinson sits down with Pete Smith, a global expert on climate change, biodiversity and food systems, to understand what's happening to our fragile grocery supply chains.
Why was organic policy blamed for Sri Lanka’s financial crisis?
Academic research offers a different story from news media on Sri Lanka's short-lived ban on agrochemicals. Bertie Harrison-Broninski explores what really happened, and whether there's a future for national-scale organic policy.
Paddy farming below sea level – how traditional knowledge could save the future
Climate adaptation should not be approached with universal solutions. Designed primarily by and for affluent communities, the solutions considered best practice are often examples of “maladaptation,” causing more problems in the long term than the challenges they are trying to solve.
Seeds of industrialisation: how the soul of the apple got lost
BY
Priyanka Kumar
An overreliance on pesticides and a disconnect from the land has dampened the mythology of America’s most iconic fruit, says Priyanka Kumar.
Opinion
How a few giant companies came to dominate global food
BY
Jennifer Clapp
How do agricultural monopolies create higher food prices? Is market concentration at breaking point for seeds, agrichemicals and farm tech? Jennifer Clapp explains.
Opinion
Sugar cane is eroding Colombian biodiversity
BY
María Arango
Biofuels are the latest driver of plantation monocultures eroding biodiversity and Afro-Colombian culture in the Cauca Valley, says María Arango, following a new report.
Opinion
The Cargill Playbook: how corn subsidies created America’s largest private company
BY
Austin Frerick
Austin Frerick describes how US farming policy created a grain monopoly, in an extract from his acclaimed 2024 book 'Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry'.
Opinion
Farmers’ protests are about more than green policies
BY
Thin Lei Win
Europe has lost 800 farmers a day since 2010 – the sector has real issues that need fixing. Backtracking on climate will only appease lobbyists, not protesters, says Thin Lei Win.
Opinion
Eni’s struggles in Africa show it’s time to move on from biofuels fantasies
BY
Agathe Bounfour
A new investigation by Transport and Environment has revealed widespread failings with the Italian oil giant's biofuels projects.
Opinion
The EU’s due diligence law must protect farmers in the Global South
BY
Catarina Vieira
Ahead of a key vote in European Parliament on 1st June, Solidaridad's Catarina Vieira warns that the law risks cutting smallholder farmers out of European supply chains, forcing them into even less regulated markets.
Opinion
Can engineered biochar solve India’s agricultural emissions?
BY
Manish Kumar
Biochar expert Professor Manish Kumar explains the potential benefits of pyrolised plants.
Opinion
Food aid is not helping Africa’s struggle with climate change: what would?
BY
Go Shimada
Increased droughts, floods, and storms due to climate change are eroding African food security. New research shows that agricultural and cereal aid are not helping.
Opinion
Build Beyond Zero
BY
Bruce King
Could we go beyond removing CO2 from the atmosphere and actually use it in the building blocks of the future?
Opinion
Reforming farm subsidies can restore nature to the British countryside
BY
Sam Hall
The Director of the UK’s Conservative Environment Network sets out his vision for sustainable farming in the UK.
Podcasts
Agriculture, Fossil fuels, Markets
Growing pains: how will the fertiliser crisis affect food supply?
Alasdair and Noah Gordon discuss the international and environmental politics of fertilisers.
Alasdair speaks to Jennifer Clapp about her new book “Titans of Industrial Agriculture: How a Few Giant Corporations Came to Dominate the Farm Sector and Why It Matters.”
Europe was going to halve pesticide use – what happened?
Alasdair talks to Dr Martin Dermine, Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network Europe, about why EU regulation of agrochemicals is moving so slowly.
Are genetically engineered seeds harming human health?
Alasdair talks to Professor Bart Elmore, author of 'Seed Money', about the history of American company Monsanto and its impact on people, plants and animals.
How is EU lobbying blocking climate farming reform?
Bertie speaks to Lighthouse Reports' Lead Food Systems journalist Thin Lei Win about their new investigation into Copa-Cogeca, Europe's largest agricultural lobby group.
Bertie speaks to fashion journalist and sustainability consultant Lucianne Tonti about her new book Sundressed: Natural Fabrics and the Future of Clothing.
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