There are a dozen different systems around the world (warning labels, grades, star ratings, endorsement logos), as this image from the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill shows. www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org/resource/fro... I did a video about it: www.instagram.com/reel/DbS3H1j...

Did you know that experts say 70% of your health status is determined by these factors. Only 10% by individual behaviour? Yet the "personal responsibility" framing is still winning the political argument. Because industry spends billions making sure it does.

What does this all mean? Many of the systems underpinning modern agriculture are extraordinarily wasteful, increasingly vulnerable, and remarkably good at reinventing themselves without changing very much at all. The good news? Alternatives already exist — and are already working.

DYK that... - Products in U.S. with regenerative food labels may not necessarily mean they're free of synthetic pesticides & fertilisers, or care about soil health? - Big Food is reshaping the meaning of regenerative agriculture in ways that could allow business as usual to continue?

While we debate food transitions in Europe, or analyse competing agendas of MAHA vs. MAGA in the U.S., China is executing hyper-scale transformations before our eyes. In this week's Thin Ink, I unpack the staggering scale of China's food system evolution with insights from Matthew & the podcast.

But if the right-wing opposition wins, these hard-won public health victories face the chopping block. This isn't just a local political race - it has global implications. Will corporate cash capture a nation's health policy, or can public interest hold the line? news.thin-ink.net/p/sugar-powe...

I'll be speaking at @oslofreedomforum.com about return of dictatorship in Myanmar, critical role of independent local journalists, why we need to keep supporting them & what we at @kitetalesmm.bsky.social have been doing. If you find yourself in Oslo, please come say hello. oslofreedomforum.com

I first heard "political economy" in 2022. Since then, I've met so many smart, well-meaning people who kept saying: yes, the food system is skewed, yes power shapes who wins and loses, but it's too complicated, too sensitive, and too hard to tackle. news.thin-ink.net/p/the-politi...

We produce enough staples & calories to feed everyone. So why is 1 in 5 people in 47 countries going hungry? Latest Thin Ink is on 4 new reports that paint a picture of systemic failures in how we grow, distribute, finance, & protect food. 🔗 news.thin-ink.net/p/on-hunger-heat-and-markets-making

I also learnt a few lessons from moderating a panel on women farmers (the reason I was at the event), and why “organise first” might still be the most radical idea in the room.

As someone who has been able to vote only once in her life (so far), and whose country just had a sham of an election a few months ago, I do love to see when elections work.

🍛 I spoke to Mike for this week's Thin Ink about the urgent need to protect our food cultures, not as something to preserve unchanged, but as something that carries history, identity, and meaning.

🌏 It moves across places and histories: from the Czech Republic to Rohingya communities to the Uyghurs to New Mexico, showing how food cultures are reshaped or lost under pressure.

♨ That's the argument Michael Shaikh, friend & former human rights investigator, made in his beautiful, inspiring, & enraging book The Last Sweet Bite. 💥💣🚀 It tackles the erasure of culinary traditions through state violence with a lightness of touch that keeps you reading.

If meat is defended as culture & tradition, why does that concern so rarely extend to protecting the animals themselves, especially when they're most vulnerable? Kudos to the journos who worked on this important piece: Leoni Bender, Louisa Bouri-Saouter, Maria Dybcio, Martin Vrba, & Raluca Besliu.

This week’s guest post tackles that disconnect head-on. Drawing on research from community kitchens across Spain, it explores what hunger actually looks like in wealthy European societies and what it might take to guarantee access to good food with dignity.

But they also come with enormous environmental & economic costs. We're also overusing them: <50% of nitrogen fertiliser actually ends up in crops. Yet fertiliser companies have seen profits surge while farmers struggle with rising input costs. Can we get out of this snare we've set for ourselves?

But there are people far better qualified than me to dissect the immediate fallout (see Thin’s Pickings). So I decided to stick to what I had planned, which also speaks to a community disproportionately affected by both conflict and climate change: women.

For years, we’ve known climate change hits women farmers harder. The question is no longer whether we have the evidence, it’s whether we act on it. We discussed: - why what gets measured gets funded - how structural barriers hold women farmers back - what changes when women are included

Also, thank you to everyone who responded so thoughtfully to last week’s issue. It was great to see the article resonating with lots of people. Again, I republished a few excerpts from comments that pushed the argument further and opened up important adjacent questions.

That’s why we need to shift the frame from producing more to ensuring rights, wages, social protection, and equitable markets. Food isn’t just a commodity, it’s a human right that depends on fair markets, decent incomes and political will. news.thin-ink.net/p/we-dont-ha...

We also need to be asking where those grains are going. According to the brief, the growth in the utilisation of cereals will primarily come from non-food uses (for animal feed, ethanol production, and others).

As Sophia Murphy says, “global hunger is only modestly connected to global grain supplies” — hunger is about access, price, and distribution. Jose Luis Chicoma also points out that production concentration increases vulnerability — abundance at the global level can coexist with local fragility.

We plan to continue this work this year. But this is a drop in the ocean. Also, my post isn't about supporting one organisation. It's about an entire information ecosystem. Myanmar's journalists need sustained support, not just praise for how "resilient" they are.

Thin Ink is 5 years old this week 🎂 I marked it with a light-ish anniversary newsletter looking back (and a bit forward). I reflect on how food systems thinking has gone mainstream (kind of) and what I’ve learned from publishing 242 issues 😅 news.thin-ink.net/p/thin-ink-i...

The latest tracker finds 1/3 of competition matters in agriculture have cross-border impacts but many countries never review them. That gap means higher prices and fewer opportunities for small producers and consumers. If you care about improving our food systems, have a read: 👇

For those living in food deserts or food swamps, “just make better choices” is a misunderstanding of reality. What we need is the real Big Tent: Room for anyone trying to do better, without flattening power or pretending we all start from the same place. That’s the energy I’m bringing into 2026.

Here, I reflect on what it means to carry. almost all my entire life, a passport that invites scrutiny; that requires advanced visas for most destinations; and that turns routine immigration appointments into nerve-wrecking ordeals. And what it means to suddenly find myself on the other side.

Overarching theme from these reports: the lack of a coherent policy at EU level to tackle the challenges ahead of us. Despite proclamations about food security and farmers' livelihoods, EU's actions are benefitting neither. www.monopolkommission.de/en/reports/s... news.thin-ink.net/p/are-you-th...

This week’s issue grows out of a presentation I gave at GIJC two weeks ago, where I tried to puncture persistent myths about hunger and malnutrition. Also in this week's issue: fellowship positions opening at Lighthouse Reports. Come work with us for six months!