Research articles

Understanding the propagation or attenuation of environmental variability and shocks along food supply chains is key to food security. This scoping review identifies entry points for variability, the main factors for variability diffusion, research gaps in terms of food items and types of shock studied, and risk reduction responses at individual, company and governmental levels.

Chinese vegetable production accounts for 1.7% of the global harvest area of crops but uses 7.8% of the chemical fertilizer and produces 6.6% of the crop-sourced greenhouse gas emissions of the global agricultural sector. An innovative management programme offers opportunities for producing more vegetables with lower environmental impacts.

The European Union relies on imports of soybean for protein-rich animal feeds. Scenarios of animal-source food supply in the EU under constraints relating to soybean production and imports for animal feed are assessed for effect on land use and human diets in the EU.

Limited data on household cooking practices are an obstacle to estimating the contribution of home cooking to climate change. Based on a survey with over 700 respondents, this study estimates GHG emissions associated with different cooking methods and appliances in the UK, as well as strategies to reduce them.

Increasing pressure on the world’s water resources raises serious concerns about future food security. This global, spatially explicit assessment of water consumption reveals where and by how much sustainable blue water flows are infringed. The study covers 146 food items for 174 countries over 1996–2005.

Disentangling the impacts of anti-deforestation interventions from other conservation efforts remains a challenge. An econometric analysis of remotely sensed data reveals the efficacy of the Soy Moratorium in the Brazilian Arc of Deforestation and the extent to which its success relies on complementary policies.

Chromosome-scale, phased Vanilla planifolia genome sequencing shows variants that may impact the vanillin pathway and, therefore, bean quality. Resequencing related vanilla species could benefit vanilla productivity and reduce post-harvest losses.

Measures to protect marine habitats must consider the interlinkages between conservation policies and food systems. This study illustrates how a new protected area in Palau may shift fish supply and tourist consumption, highlighting policies to avoid negative environmental consequences.

Oil uptake during deep-frying of potato crisps can be modified by the presence of short amylose chains. The choice of cultivar and processing conditions that enhance levels of short amylose chains may facilitate the production of reduced-calorie crisps.

Global geospatial datasets and a regression discontinuity design enable the country-level effects, such as agricultural policies, on crop yields and nitrogen pollution to be quantified. The influences of countries were much larger on nitrogen pollution than on crop yields.

Fruit and vegetable supply in the United Kingdom has increasingly been characterized by reduced domestic production of fruit and vegetables and increased reliance on imports from climate-vulnerable countries. With increasing climate change, this may impact availability, price and consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK, with health consequences, particularly for older people and low-income households.

Understanding major sources of uncertainty in yield change facilitates adaptation strategies for cropping systems. Using eight crop models, 32 global climate models and two climate downscaling methods, it is shown that their relative contribution to uncertainty in climate–crop modelling depends on location.

A key climate change adaptation goal in agriculture is to reduce drought sensitivity of crop yields. A comparison of two empirical strategies applied to US maize for detecting changes in drought sensitivity reveals the advantages of utilizing within-country spatial variability in drought exposure, driven primarily by differences in soil water-storage capacity.

Seeds, flour and food products derived from two near-identical pea genotypes (BC1/19RR and BC1/19rr) were utilized in a series of in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo studies to explore the contribution of starch structure, food matrix and intestinal environment to postprandial glycaemia.

Polypropylene-based food containers are utilized widely, but their potential to degrade and produce microplastics is poorly understood. Here, microplastics released from formula preparation procedures in polypropylene feeding bottles are quantified, demonstrating the potential for global infant exposure to microplastics.

Palm oil has certain functional advantages as an ingredient in food products, including textual and sensory properties, and as a trans fat replacement. A well-established technique, enzymatic glycerolysis, is used here to structure liquid cottonseed and peanut oils into solid fats without altering fatty acid composition, which may advance the structure, nutrition and sustainability of commercial products

An integrated subnational environmental and nutritional optimization approach indicates that, with a transition from current production and consumption patterns, India has the capacity to achieve national food self-sufficiency goals while reducing regional cropland use, water demand and GHG emissions.

Nitrogen use has increased food security in China but also poses environmental problems. Agricultural nitrogen management strategies are identified for China that will improve food security and public health while addressing multiple environmental challenges.

Aquaculture production systems in Bangladesh were configured to optimize the supply of micronutrients while minimizing environmental impacts. Increased production of small indigenous species enabled nutrient densities of farmed fish to match those of wild-caught fish, and systems that co-produce fish and rice had the lowest environmental burdens.

Associations, cooperatives, women’s groups and other farmers’ organizations are generally considered beneficial to smallholders, but more evidence on their broader impact is needed. This scoping review, focused on sub-Saharan Africa and India, draws on the findings of 239 studies to elicit the contributions of farmers’ organizations to production, income, empowerment, food security and the environment.