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The UK cross-government programme on food security research

Publications

Publications, reports, resources and reviews from the Global Food Security programme.

The principles of healthy and sustainable eating patterns

The principles of healthy and sustainable eating patterns

  • Document Information: PDF 2MB
  • Date: June 2015

This report details outcomes and recommendations from three interdisciplinary and cross-sector working groups, considering principles of healthy and sustainable eating patterns, consumer behaviour, and sustainable consumption and growth. These working groups met as follow-on to the Green Food Project, 2012, that examined the challenges of simultaneously increasing food production and improving the environment.

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Facing the future together

Facing the future together

  • Document Information: PDF 2MB
  • Date: March 2015

Water is a critical resource under threat, so recognising the risks will be vital to understanding how water use will change in the upcoming years. This synthesis report is an amalgamation of key findings from the three water sub-reports, produced by GFS and the UK Water Partnership.

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Agriculture's impacts on water availability

Agriculture’s impacts on water availability

  • Document Information: PDF 3MB
  • Date: March 2015

This sub-report details discussions of an interdisciplinary working group, coordinated by GFS and the UK Water Partnership. Their work explored the tensions between water availability and food production in the UK, identifying future challenges, knowledge gaps and potential methods for easing the pressure on water resources.

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Agriculture's impacts on water quality

Agriculture’s impacts on water quality

  • Document Information: PDF 3MB
  • Date: March 2015

This sub-report details outcomes of an interdisciplinary working group, coordinated by GFS and the UK Water Partnership. Discussions focused on the routes by which high aspirations for environmental water quality could be balanced with significant growth in agricultural production, meeting food security and environmental objectives while providing viable livelihoods for farmers.

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Water use in our food imports

Water use in our food imports

  • Document Information: PDF 2MB
  • Date: March 2015

This sub-report details discussions of an interdisciplinary working group, coordinated by GFS and the UK Water Partnership. This report focuses on the issues presented by water availability in food trade, considering risks for different food system stakeholders when obtaining food from overseas in times of increasing global demand for fresh water.

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Nexus thinking for food security research

Nexus thinking for food security research

  • Document Information: PDF 3MB
  • Date: January 2015

This workshop report identifies interdisciplinary research priorities and areas for cross-sector collaboration, in order to deliver efficient use of natural resources. It conceptualises the linkages between food, water, energy and land for future resource security and the interactions of these four areas, referred to as the ‘nexus’.

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Key findings mid-term review of the GFS programme

Key findings from the mid-term review of the Global Food Security programme

  • Document Information: PDF 192KB
  • Date: December 2014

A light-touch review was conducted in 2014 to explore the extent to which GFS had achieved added value; capture ‘softer’ programme impacts; and help shape the future strategic
direction of the programme. This report provides a summary of the key findings.

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Insight: The UK aquaculture industry

Insight, issue four: The UK aquaculture industry

  • Document Information: PDF 1MB
  • Date: July 2014

GFS Insight aims to offer a balanced and interdisciplinary representation of the current state of knowledge in a particular area relating to food security. This issue considers current aquaculture practice, both globally and in the UK, and routes by which scientific research is improving aquaculture productivity and sustainability.

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Insight: Food price spikes and global food markets

Insight, issue three: Food price spikes and global food markets

  • Document Information: PDF 1MB
  • Date: April 2014

GFS Insight aims to offer a balanced and interdisciplinary representation of the current state of knowledge in a particular area relating to food security. This issue explores the factors behind recent global food price spikes, and potential routes for improving food price stability.

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Insight: Severe weather and UK food resilience

Insight, issue two: Severe weather and UK food resilience

  • Document Information: PDF 2MB
  • Date: February 2014

GFS Insight aims to offer a balanced and interdisciplinary representation of the current state of knowledge in a particular area relating to food security. This issue provides an overview of the increasing threat of severe weather events throughout the food supply chain, and potential methods for mitigating these risks.

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Priority research questions for the UK food system

Priority research questions for the UK food system

  • Document Information: PDF 3MB
  • Date: February 2014

This report highlights the key research challenges that could improve the UK food system’s efficiency and effectiveness in a global context. This GFS-led exercise developed a list of the top 100 priority research questions for the UK food system based on perspectives of a variety of stakeholders, including food industry, retail, government, wider policy, NGOs and academia.

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