Tag Archives: food security

Seed sovereignty under threat – time to reform seed laws, nationally and internationally, says Dr Clare O’Grady Walshe

Posted on 27 November 2020 by Geoff Tansey

Dr Clare O’Grady Walshe studies politics and international relations and wanted to understand the power and political dynamics inherent in changing seed laws, policies, and practices inside countries in the face of globalisation. After a careful study of how the … Continue reading →

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Real Defence Spending Ensures Good Food for All

Posted on 9 November 2020 by Geoff Tansey

Here, I’m reposting a blog I wrote for the Rethinking Security website last week. I argue that there is no security without food security. Meeting the real security needs of humanity necessitates the progressive redistribution of military budgets toward ending … Continue reading →

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How do you measure the number of hungry people in the world – and why did the numbers drop by some 130 million between 2018-19?

Posted on 26 October 2020 by Geoff Tansey

Although the number of hungry people in the world has been rising for the past 5 years, reaching 690 million in 2019, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report 2020, that total number shows … Continue reading →

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Trade Policy, The Right to Food & COVID-19 – and that’s just starters for Michael Fakhri, 4th Rapportuer on the Right to Food

Posted on 21 August 2020 by Geoff Tansey

Michael Fakhri was appointed as the UN’s 4th Rapporteur on the Right to Food in May 2020. In this conversation he talks candidly about his initial plans and the impact of COVID-19 on them. His first report, due in September … Continue reading →

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It’s time to turn swords into ploughshares, bombs into bread, and soldiers into good Samaritans*

Posted on 23 April 2020 by Geoff Tansey

It is blatantly obvious that there is no military response that can defeat the COVID-19 virus. It should be equally obvious that military spending can’t deal with the other two great long-term, slower-acting pandemics – climate change and biodiversity loss. … Continue reading →

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Food or War: is that the question?

Posted on 7 April 2020 by Geoff Tansey

Rather foolishly, when I set up my website  some years ago, I wrote that I was thinking of writing a book provisionally entitled Food is a Key to Avoiding World War III. Life has intervened and I haven’t been able … Continue reading →

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#Potatoes – Crop of the Future? A discussion with Prof Anton Haverkort

Posted on 11 October 2019 by Geoff Tansey

Forty years ago, when I was working in Turkey, I met another young man called Anton Haverkort, just setting out on his career. He grew up on a potato farm in the Netherlands, studied potatoes, and came to Turkey to … Continue reading →

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Resilience in the UK #foodsystem – 4 key questions

Posted on 18 September 2019 by Geoff Tansey

Resilience is one of the buzzwords of our times. Having a resilient food system is crucial in the light of climate destabilisation, biodiversity loss, and political changes such as will be brought about by Brexit in the UK. So what … Continue reading →

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Saving and using Mexico’s fantastic #tomato agricultural #biodiversity

Posted on 9 November 2018 by Geoff Tansey

Tomatoes have spread into cuisines around the world but most commercial varieties have a narrow genetic base and only grow well in optimum conditions often in greenhouses. As climate changes and interest in the fruit’s nutritional properties grows, drawing on … Continue reading →

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Future #Food #Sustainability and research needs for the UK and EU facing #Brexit?

Posted on 23 July 2018 by Geoff Tansey

I was at an horizon scanning workshop organised by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics last week to discuss the future of food sustainability in the UK. It was run under the Chatham House rule, which means you can say things … Continue reading →

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