Starting this month, Guild member Gavin Wren delivers the latest news about debates and politics that impact the future of food.

As we enter the ‘transformational twenties’, the way people engage with food is changing. Fuelled by the spectre of climate change, the disruption of Brexit and revolutionary new technology, the next generation of our audience will produce and choose food in very different ways.

Behind the scenes of the food system lays a hidden world of people and organisations whose work has a huge impact on the food we eat. In this briefing, the latest news and events will be highlighted to help educate and inform about the changes on the horizon. Just three areas to whet your appetite.

• Meat is a contentious topic, with red meat often being singled out for its hefty environmental impact. A new study from Eating Better looks whether chicken is a more sustainable alternative to red meat, concluding that we should eat less, but better quality, not only for red meat but also for chicken. Read more. eating-better.org/blog/we-need-to-talk-about-chicken
• The environmental impact of food production can be addressed through ‘True Cost’ accounting, where the positive and negative effects of food production are factored into the sale price of a food product. Intensive food products would then become more expensive, while regenerative practices would reduce prices. John Hopkins University has produced a full report on this idea. Read more. clf.jhsph.edu/sites/default/files/2020-02/true-cost-for-food-system-reform-2020.pdf
• Children and teenager’s health is the topic of a new report published by The Lancet in collaboration with UNICEF. Food advertising plays a major role, as private sector investment in advertising for products which could be detrimental to health is noted as a major influence in poor health for children. Read more. thelancet.com/commissions/future-child

Guild member Drew Smith has been in touch with his urgent and very serious concerns about the impact on the food profession of the Government’s new immigration policies, which he feels put the food industry, and therefore our own industry, in jeopardy. This is an important area for debate: either contact Drew directly (foodbydesign@googlemail.com) or air your views on the Facebook forum?