This book examines the implications of the net zero transition for food and farming in the UK and how these can be managed to avoid catastrophic climate change in the crucial decades ahead.
For the UK to meet its international obligations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, nothing short of a revolution is required in our use of land, our farming practices and our diet. Taking a historical approach, the book examines the evolution of agriculture and the food system in the UK over the last century and discusses the implications of tackling climate change for food, farming and land use, setting the UK situation in an international context. The chapters analyse the key challenges for this transition, including dietary change and food waste, afforestation and energy crops, and low-emission farming practices. This historical perspective helps develop an understanding of how our food, farming and land use system has evolved to be the way that it is, and draws lessons for how the agri-food system could evolve further to support the transition to net zero and avoid catastrophic climate change.
Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be essential reading to students and scholars of food, agriculture and the environment, as well as policymakers and professionals involved climate change policy and the agriculture and food industry.
Author(s): Neil Ward
Series: Earthscan Food and Agriculture
Publisher: Routledge/Earthscan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 267
City: London
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Figures
Tables
Preface
Abbreviations
1 Food, Farming and Climate Change
Introduction
The Climate Challenge and Net Zero Emissions
Food, Farming and Land Use
Governing Change in Agriculture and the Food System
The Structure of the Book
Notes
2 Science, Technology and Politics: The Conceptual Approach
Introduction
Science and Society
Socio-technical Systems and Technological Change
Neoliberalism and Cosmopolitanism
Governing Populations: Nudging and Behaviour Change
Conclusions
Notes
3 Food and Farming in Twentieth-Century Britain: Productivism and Its Aftermath
Introduction
British Agriculture 1900–1939: Productivism’s Pre-History
The Second World War and the Birth of Productivism
British Farming’s Twentieth-Century Technological Revolution
Productivism in Crisis and Agricultural Policy Reform 1980–2020
Conclusions
Notes
4 Cleaning and Greening Food and Farming
Introduction
Farming, Landscape Change and Biodiversity
Water Pollution From Farm Livestock Effluents and Agricultural Pesticides
Farm Animal Health and Welfare
Towards a Greener Agriculture: Sustainable Food and Farming Reforms
Conclusions
Notes
5 The Evolution of Climate Science and Climate Politics
Introduction
The Long Discovery of Climate Change, 1850s to 1980s
The Climate Change Tipping Point, 1987–1992
Climate Change Denial and Controversy
Twenty-First-Century Climate Governance and Governmentalities
Conclusions
Notes
6 Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Food, Farming and Land Use
Introduction
The IPCC, Land and Agriculture
The Climate Change Committee and Land-Use Policies for a Net Zero UK
Contrasting Visions of the Transition to Net Zero
Conclusions
Notes
7 Diet, Food and Waste
Introduction
The Global Challenge of Unsustainable Diets
The UK Food System and British Diet
The Net Zero Challenge: Corporate and Consumer Behaviour
Conclusions: Strategies for a “Great Food Transformation”
Notes
8 Land-Use Change and Greenhouse Gas Removal
Introduction
Climate Change and Land Use in a Global Context
Managing Land Use and Land-Use Change in the UK
The Science and Politics of Land-Use Change
Conclusions
Notes
9 Farming Practice and Climate Change Mitigation
Introduction
Climate Change and Farming Practices in a Global Context
Changing Farming Practices in the UK
The Science and Politics of Changing Farming Practices
Markets and Morality
Conclusions
Notes
10 The Dynamics of Transitioning to Net Zero
Introduction
“Chunking Up” the Challenge
Farmers
Consumers
Companies
Government Behaviour
Conclusions
Notes
11 Conclusions: Net Zero, Food and Farming
Introduction
Learning From the Past
Systems Change, Net Zero and the Agri-Food Transition
Food, Farming and Behaviour Change
Social Sustainability and a Just Transition
Notes
Bibliography
Index
