From urban farming breakthroughs to shifts in how communities access nutritious food, this archive covers progress in food systems and diet worldwide. These stories highlight real-world solutions — what’s working, where, and why it matters for human health and the planet.
As of January 2024, municipalities in France must now provide residents with ways to sort bio-waste, which includes food scraps, vegetable peels, expired food and garden waste. Households and businesses are required to dispose of organic matter either in a dedicated small bin for home collection or at a municipal collection point. The waste will then be turned into biogas or compost to replace chemical fertilizers.
At schools where 25% of families participate in income-based public benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, the U.S. federal government now will cover the cost of free meals for all enrolled students. Previously, the qualifying threshold was 40%.
All public school students grades K-12 will be entitled to free lunches regardless of their financial status. It’s estimated to save families about $1,200 a year per student.
Right-to-repair just scored a historic win: in April 2023, Colorado became the first U.S. state to legally guarantee farmers the ability to fix their own agricultural equipment. The law requires manufacturers to share the same diagnostic tools, software, and manuals they give authorized dealers — closing a digital loophole that often left skilled local mechanics unable to complete a repair without a corporate authorization code. For farmers facing a broken combine mid-harvest, that shift can mean the difference between saving a season and losing it. Colorado’s breakthrough is now serving as a template for similar fights across other states and at the federal level, and for a broader movement extending repair rights to electronics, medical devices, and beyond.
In 1996, South Korea recycled less than 3% of its food waste. Today, it has East Asian nation has achieved a near 100% food waste recycling rate after implementing a country-wide mandatory composting scheme in 2013.
A French research company interviewed more than 4,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. More than 50% reported having reduced their meat consumption in the last five years largely for environmental, animal welfare, and personal health reasons.
When classrooms in California reopen for the fall term, all 6.2 million public school students will have the option to eat school meals for free, regardless of their family’s income.
The Future Seeds facility will not only safeguard tropical crop biodiversity, but also serve as a living laboratory for some of the world’s most advanced agricultural technologies.
A new kind of milk will soon hit US shelves, but it isn’t some plant-based product designed to resemble dairy milk. Instead, it is made from whey proteins produced by microflora engineered.
LED-illuminated nets reduce #bycatch of sharks and skates by an incredible 95 percent while maintaining catch rates of target species, according to a new study.
