Food & society

Investigating climate-controlled agriculture and alternatives to animal proteins, John Wilkinson shows that trade and investment in agrifood is reorienting to the Global South. He skilfully illustrates the connections between social movements and technological innovation – and the need for consumer acceptance of new food habits.

Combining an analysis of political economy and ecocultural heritage, this book examines post-Soviet Latvia and post-apartheid South Africa in an unusual comparative study of post-authoritarian efforts to decolonize production and trade.

This fascinating book examines continuity and change in food consumption and eating patterns since the 1950s. The culinary landscape of Britain is explored through discussion of commodification, globalisation and diversification enabling an understanding of both developing trends and enduring habits.

This book tells the story of changing patterns of food provision in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, climate change and inflation, the authors discuss the food system’s winners and losers in a time of rapid social change.

Gray and Hinch explore the phenomenon of food crime. Through discussions of food safety, food fraud, food insecurity, agricultural labour, livestock welfare, genetically modified foods, food sustainability, food waste, food policy, and food democracy, they problematize current food systems and criticize their underlying ideologies.

Re-examining health, healthcare and societal health using the latest data and research, this book addresses definitions of health, changes in health over time and the contribution of healthcare. It also suggests ways of effectively tackling obstacles to improving health and healthcare in 21st century Britain.

We know the statistics, but what does it feel like to be forced to turn to foodbanks for help? What does it take to get emergency food, and what's in the food parcel? This is a powerful insight into the harsh reality of foodbank use from the inside.

Exploring why food aid exists and the deeper causes of food poverty, this book addresses neglected dimensions of traditional debates. It challenges neoliberal governmentality and shows how food charity maintains inequalities of class, race, religion and gender.

Drawing on empirical research with the UK’s two largest Food Banks, this book explores the prolific rise of food charity over the last 15 years and its implications for overcoming food insecurity.

This book takes a critical political economy approach to understanding food insecurity in Canada and the UK. It provides a vision of a future whereby public control over the distribution of resources –including food – will eliminate food insecurity and other conditions that threaten health.

This collection presents critical and action-oriented approaches to addressing food systems challenges across places, spaces, and scales. With global case studies, it explores the interconnections between the social and ecological dynamics of food systems, exploring efforts to co-construct more equitable and sustainable food systems for all.

As the demand for food banks and other emergency food charities continues to rise across the continent, this is the first systematic Europe-wide study of the roots and consequences of this urgent phenomenon.