Sustainable food system resources
A collection of quality resources sourced from academia, NGOs, industry and government.
Food + Planet Resource List
Explore by searching or sorting.
| Organization | Resource name | Resource Type | Brief summary | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics | Food Security and Sustainabilitiy Resources | List of resources | Website that features sustainability resources and outlines principles of sustainable food systems. | Link |
| The White House | Report of the 50th Anniversary of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health | White paper | A report based on policy changes regarding nutrition-related challenges and stresses to the environment. | Link |
| Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) Foodsource | Evidence-based Resources on Sustainable Food Systems | List of resources | Website that provides evidence-based resources on sustainable food systems. | Link |
| Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics | Standards of Professional Performance | White paper | A tool for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists working in sustainable, resilient, and healthy food and water systems to assess their current skill levels and to identify areas for further professional development in this emerging practice area. | Link |
| United States of Department of Agriculture | Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food | White paper | A resource documenting the innovation, entrepreneurship, and impact of local food systems across the country. | Link |
| World Resources Institute | Creating a Sustainable Food Future | Online Course | A report that provides courses that could allow the world to achieve a sustainable food future by meeting growing demands and closing the gaps of sustainability issues. | Link |
| Sandro Demaio Foundation | From the Ground Up - Regenerative Agriculture | Video | Inspirational video showing the steps farmers took to transform their practices and bring new life to their land by regenerating agriculture. | Link |
| Tufts University | Decoding Food Labels | Guide | Online guide to learn about and understand food labels in order to shop for healthy, sustainably- grown foods. | Link |
| British Broadcasting Corporation (BCC) | Female Cocoa Farmers Paid as Little as 23p a Day | News article | News article highlighting the gender pay gap in the global chocolate industry. | Link |
| Food System Visions | IDEO Open Innovative Practice | Other | Website that focuses on a human-centered design approach to solve complex problems regarding the food system through an open innovation platform that allows people to share their ideas and coordinate action around the world. | Link |
| Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture | Cropping Systems Research Team | Data / Research | Review about a group of researchers conducting an experiment to develop a diversified crop rotation that will boost productivity, profitability, and environmental health. | Link |
| Upfield | A Better Plant-Based Future | White paper | A policy position that advocates for the transformation of a more sustainable, equitable food system through the adoption of a plant-based diet. | Link |
| EAT Stockholm Food Forum | Biodiversity: The Race to Save Each Other | Video | Leaders from science, business, politics, and civil society discussing the importance of the relationship between biodiversity and the transformation of the global food system. | Link |
| Kiss the Ground | An Introduction to Regenerative Agriculture | White paper | Discusses concepts and methods that focus on regeneration with respect to agriculture, the way we grow our food, fiber, and fuel. | Link |
| Kiss the Ground | The Soil Story | Video | Short film that shares the importance of healthy soil for a healthy planet. | Link |
| Climate Collaborative | Catalyzing Your Consumers on Climate | Video | Video that provides resources for different companies to build effective, action-focused dialogues on climate change. | Link |
| World Wildlife Fund and Knorr UK | Future 50 Foods | White paper | A report that identifies 50 plant-based foods that can boost the nutritional value of our meals while reducing the environmental impact of our food suplly and promote a more sustainable global food system. | Link |
| International Food Information Council Foundation | 2019 Food & Health Survey | Data / Research | A survey that helps American consumers understand their perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors around food and food purchasing decisions. It examines issues related to health and diet, food components, food production and food safety as well as plant-based diets and food allergies. | Link |
| EAT Foundation | EAT-Lancet Commission Summary Report | Data / Research | A report that discusses targets for healthy diets and sustainable food production. | Link |
| World Resources Institute | Shifting Diets for a Sustainable Food Future | Data / Research | A report that provides a holistic approach and proposes production- and consumption-based solutions in order to close the food gap. | Link |
| The International Panel on Climate Change | Climate Change and Land | News article | A review of a report from a Registered Dietitian's perspective that discusses land degradation due to climate change, sustainable land management, global food security, and changes in greenhouse gases in land ecosystems. | Link |
| The Counter | Clean Label's Dirty Little Secret | News article | Article that discusses how the biggest trend in processed food exploits confusion about what "natural" and "artificial" really means. | Link |
| Menus of Change | Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus | Guide | A guide that provides information about foodservice industry, and discusses findings from nutritional and environmental science perspectives on optimal food choices, trends in consumer preferences, and impacts on projected demographic shifts. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Plates, Pyramids, Planet | Data / Research | Evaluates government-issued food-based dietary guidelines from across the globe, specifically looking at whether they make links to environmental sustainability and personal health. | Link |
| Smart Cities World | Smart Urban Food Systems: What will the Future Taste Like? | News article | An article that highlights the fact that cities could be the best place to lead the change in the sustainable food revolution through redesigning the system using circular economy principles. | Link |
| Thomson Reuters Foundation | Opinion: Overlooked, Underused Crops: An Answer to Our Food System Problems? | News article | Article that addresses two major threats to our global food system, which include climate change and insufficient nutrion, as well as tools to overcome these obstacles. | Link |
| Coursera | Climate Change and Health: From Science to Action Specialization | Online Course | Free online course that addresses adverse health impacts of climate change. | Link |
| EAT Lancet | EATLancet vs Yes2meat: The Digital Backlash to the Planetary Health Diet | Data / Research | Journal article that summarizes and communicates the best available science on what constitutes a healthy diet within environmental targets. | Link |
| Food Navigator | COP25 Hears for 'Radical Transformational Change' of the Food System: 'Nobody Should Feel Any Comfort' | News article | Article that discusses efforts to transform the food system and tackle the impact of food production on climate. | Link |
| Kiss the Ground | Kiss the Ground Soil Advocate Training | Online Course | 7-week online training program that teaches people how to be a knowledgeable, inspiring advocate for regenerative agriculture. | Link |
| Business Insider Australia | Processed Foods Make Us Fatter, Lead to Cancer, and Are Linked with Early Death. But What Exactly is a Processed Food? | News article | A study that provides evidence that processed foods aren't just bad for our health, but also cause people to eat more and gain weight. | Link |
| The Food Medic | Sustainable Food | Podcast / Audio | Registered Dietitian Nutritionist explores the concept of food sustainability, and what a sustainable diet might look like. | Link |
| Smithsonian Magazine | Nut Milks Are Milk, Says Almost Every Culture Across the Globe | News article | An article that discusses the history of cow's milk and non-dairy milk amongst various cultures, as well as the standards of identification for dairy products. | Link |
| UN Environment Programme | An Indian Farming Biodiversity Success Story | News article | Article that highlights how a significant number of traditional varieties of rice are still grown by small and marginal farmers across India, where they cater for local consumers' quality preferences and market niches. | Link |
| The BMJ | What Role Should the Commercial Food System Play in Promoting Health Through Better Diet? | Data / Research | Research article that states that the commercial food system has the potential to show leadership and support for dietary public health, but systemic change is needed first and this is likely to require governmental action. | Link |
| U.S. Agency for International Development | Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Resource Review | Data / Research | A curated collection of recent research, tolls, and events that provides information regarding the developments and evidence in global nutrition programming. | Link |
| The Rockefeller Foundation | Food System Vision Prize | Guide | An invitation for organizations across the globe to develop a vision of the regenerative and nourishing food system that they aspire to create by the year 2050. | Link |
| Nourish: Food + Community | What's the Story of Your Food? | Video | Food Journalist talks about why shared meals make for healthier, happier families and kids. | Link |
| Nourish: Food + Community | Nourish Food System Map | Infographic | Infographic that displays a chart to help identify your relationship to food as well as the impacts of food literacy on the biological, economic, political, health, and social systems. | Link |
| Raniforest Alliance | Rainforest Alliance Home Page | Data / Research | Website that provides methods in which we can build an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. | Link |
| Fair Trade Certified | Seek the Seal, Make a Difference | List of resources | Website that provides a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade in order to build an innovative model of responsible business, conscious consumerism, and shared value to eliminate poverty and enable sustainable development around the world. | Link |
| U.S. Department of Agriculture | USDA Organic | List of resources | Website that helps you connect with programs, services, and educational materials that can help your organic farm or business. | Link |
| Grist | Last-Ditch Effort | News article | News article that discusses how a ditch in Indiana could provide a solution to the fertilizer problem in America. | Link |
| Our World in Data | Environmental Impacts of Food Production | Data / Research | Articles that focuses on the environmental impacts of food and agriculture. | Link |
| The Land Institute | The Global Inventory Project | Video | Video that discusses a project that seeks to advance sustainable agriculture and ecosystem security through the incorporation of herbaceous and shrubby perennial species into large-scale contemporary agriculture. | Link |
| International Food Policy Research Institute | Food Systems Dashboard: How It Will Work | Video | Video of commentators reflecting on data that has been brought together from public and private sources to help decision makers diagnose their food systems and identify all their levers of change as well as the ones that need to be pulled first. | Link |
| British Dietetic Association | One Blue Dot - The BDA's Environmentally Sustainable Diet Project | List of resources | Website that provides information, graphics, tools, and links to help improve the understanding of environmentally sustainable diets. | Link |
| American Public Health Association | Precautionary Moratorium on New and Expanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations | Data / Research | Research article that discusses the issue of the large-scale industrial operations that concentrate large number of animals in small geographic areas and the impacts this has on the environment and human health. | Link |
| Food & Drink Business | Tyson Foods Announces Global Protein Coalition | News article | News article that discusses the Coalition for Global Protein and ways in which this Coalition could help to reduce food loss and waste, increase access to nutritious protein, and safeguard ecosystems. | Link |
| Coalition For Global Protein | Imagining New and Creative Solutions for the Future of Sustainable Protein | Video | Coalition that aims to explore and develop new solutions to sustainably feed the increasing world's population. | Link |
| The Guardian | Revealed: Monsanto Predicted Crop System Would Damage U.S. Farms | News article | News article that provides internal documents about how the U.S. agriculture giant (Monsanto) and the German chemical giant (BASF) were aware that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would most likely lead to damage on U.S. farms. | Link |
| Global Forest Watch | Forest Monitoring Designed for Action | List of resources | Website that offers the latest data, technology, and tools that empower people to better protect forests. | Link |
| edX | Sustainable Food Security: Food Access | Online Course | Online course that teaches about the basics of food access and decision-making. | Link |
| Marketplace | Facing Water Shortages, Indian Farmers Dig In | Podcast / Audio | Podcast about a man from India discussing the changes that need to be made in regards to India's critical conditions of underground aquifers that may lead to a potential water crisis. | Link |
| Seametrics | Infographic: Interesting Facts About Farm Water Conservation | Infographic | Infographic that provides interesting facts about the tremendous amount of water used globally for agriculture while emphasizing the importance of conserving the world's water supply to feed the 9 billion people expected in 2050. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Global Food Losses and Food Waste | Data / Research | Research study that highlights the losses occurring along the entire food chain, makes assessments of their magnitude, and identifies causes of food losses as well as possible ways of preventing them. | Link |
| Nature Research | Genetic Diversity and Disease Control in Rice | Data / Research | Research study that supports the view that intraspecific crop diversification provides an ecological approach to disease control that can be highly effective over a large area and contribute to the sustainability of crop production. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture | White paper | Report that makes a valuable contribution to the efforts of conserving biodiversity for food and agriculture as well as promoting its sustainable use for food security and human well-being and development worldwide, for current and future generations. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Make #NotWasting a Way of Life | Infographic | Infographic that displays the amount of food lost and wasted through global good production, the environmental impacts of food loss and waste, and ways to prevent the amount of food loss and waste. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Agriculture: Mixed Crop-Livestock Farming | Handout | Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of mixed farming. | Link |
| Environmental Action | Beeport Card | Data / Research | Evaluates bee conservation policies in our states. | Link |
| Pollinator Partnership | Pollinators Need You. You Need Pollinators. | Handout | Discusses the importance about how the ecosystem supports us and how our actions can help support healthy and sustainable pollination. | Link |
| Xerces Society | Pollinator Conservation Program | White paper | Dicusses information about the importance of pollinators, the Xerces Society's pollinator conservation work, and how you can help. | Link |
| United States of Department of Agriculture | How Gardeners Can Help Pollinators | Handout | Provides beneficial methods on how to make your garden a safe place for native pollinators. | Link |
| Cable News Network (CNN) | The Insect Apocalypse is Coming. Here's What You Can Do About It. | News article | News article that shares information about the rapid decline of insect populations, the impacts this has on the environment, and ways to help bug populations recover. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | FAO's Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture | White paper | Discusses how programs and projects are working toward a common goal to promote the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of pollinator diversity in agriculture and related ecosystems. | Link |
| ABC News | Nearly 40% Decline in Honey Bee Population Last Winter 'Unsustainable,' Experts Say | News article | News article that discusses how food prices could rise if the number of bees pollinating crops continues to dwindle. | Link |
| The Guardian | Plummeting Insect Numbers 'Threaten Collapse of Nature' | News article | News article that discusses how the decrease, and possible extinction, in insect populations may lead to a collapse of nature's ecosystems. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Roundtable: Preserving Mother Earth | Video | Video of professionals discussing how to preserve mother earth through food culture, local traditions, and biodiversity. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Interview with Ilaria Capua | Video | Interview of a health professional who provides a clear connection between agriculture and human/circular health. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Interview with Guatam N. Yadama | Video | Interview of a health professional who explains the relationship between food systems, resources, and people. | Link |
| eDX | Sustainable Food Systems: A Mediterranean Perspective | Online Course | Online course that discusses the challenges and opportunities of the agricultural sector in the Mediterranean basin. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Recipe Builder for Thai Cuisine | Infographic | Provides suggestions on how to build a pasta recipe that is inspired by the flavors of Thailand. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Chronicles of Sustainability | News article | A variety of news articles that provide stories and in-depth information for sustainable development. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Double Pyramid | Handout | Provides information about the double food and environmental pyramid, which highlights the close link between two aspects of food: nutritional value and the environmental impact. | Link |
| Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition | Recipe Builder for Pasta | Infographic | Provides suggestions on how to build a pasta recipe that is inspired by the flavors of Italy. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | One Plant. One Health Initiative. | Video | Video clip that discusses the mission, vision, and objective of Danone's One Plant. One Health Inititative. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | Biodiversity | Video | Short clip of Danone's Nature & Water Cycle expert discussing the importance of biodiversity. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | Solving the Climate Crisis: Opportunities in Agriculture | Handout | Discusses the commitment and initiative that Danone took in order to diminish the negative impacts of the climate crisis. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | Biodiversity and Sustainability | Infographic | Infographic from the UN Biodiversity that discusses the relationship between biodiversity and human health. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | Climate Change | Video | Short clip that discusses how Danone is leading a coalition of 19 of the world's largest companies committed to combatting climate change. | Link |
| Danone Institute North America | One Planet Business for Biodiversity | Video | Short clip of Danone's Chairman discussing the impact of biodiversity on climate change. | Link |
| Politico | USDA Let Millions of Pounds of Food Rot While Food-Bank Demand Soared | News article | News article discussing the Agriculture Department's slow response to the farm crisis caused by coronavirus. | Link |
| United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition | The COVID-19 Pandemic is Disrupting People's Food Environments | News article | A list of available resources and key readings with a focus on nutrition and food systems that contribute to the coronavirus pandemic response. | Link |
| British Broadcasting Corporation (BCC) | Coronavirus: How Robust is Our Food Chain? | Podcast / Audio | Discusses how vulnerable global food distribution networks are to the COVID-19 disruption. | Link |
| International Food Information Council Foundation | The U.S. Food Supply Amid COVID-19 | News article | Article that discusses how the food supply adapts during the global emergency caused by the spread of COVID-19 the components of the food supply, and the role of consumers in regards to the food supply. | Link |
| Clif Bar & Company | Fair Trade Coffee Initiative | News article | : Is crafted with sustainably-sourced organic coffee beans from Colombia, sourced in partnership with Sustainable Harvest® . | Link |
| World Coffee Research | The future of coffee | Organization | World Coffee Research works on combating the effects of climate change in the coffee supply chain. | Link |
| Clif Bar & Company | Organic for Good | New Article | Industry-led commitment to organic and regenerative agriculture. | Link |
| Clif Bar & Company | Climate Leadership Award for Supply Chain Efforts (2017) | News Article | US EPA grants Clif Bar & Company with Climate Leadership Award for Supply Chain Efforts (2017). | Link |
| Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) | Sustainable food systems - Concept and Framework | Guide | A sustainable food system lies at the heart of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted in 2015, the SDGs call for major transformations in agriculture and food systems in order to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030. To realize the SDGs, the global food system needs to be reshaped to be more productive, more inclusive of poor and marginalized populations, environmentally sustainable and resilient, and able to deliver healthy and nutritious diets to all. These are complex and systemic challenges that require the combination of interconnected actions at the local, national, regional and global levels. | Link |
| USDA | A Shift to Healthier Diets Likely To Affect Use of Natural Resources | Article | A recent Economic Research Service (ERS) study draws on findings from several earlier studies by ERS and research partners to analyze the effects of a change in the average American diet on the U.S. food system’s use of five natural resources: agricultural land, fresh ground and surface water, fossil fuels, forest products, and air, where air use is estimated in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. | Link |
| Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) | Food security and nutrition: building a global narrative towards 2030 | White paper | This report takes stock of the amazing contribution that previous HLPE Steering Committee members have made over the last decade to improve our understanding of food security and nutrition and to provide evidence-based advice to the CFS and other actors in the global food security community. | Link |
