Check out our advisory board member @kengiller.bsky.social's recorded plenary at the Roots to Regenerative Agriculture event last week, hosted by @aabiologists.bsky.social ⬇️

Association of Applied Biologists@aabiologists.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Thank you to our speakers, sponsors (@adasgroup.bsky.social, AHDB, Aurora Trust) and everyone who battled through the snow & icy weather to join us this week! We hope you enjoyed it! In case you missed out, you can catch up on Ken's plenary now 👇 youtu.be/z9M3nsBt_EA?... @kengiller.bsky.social

Andrew McGuire@agronomistag.bsky.social · last wk.

"Cover crop composition, NOT diversity, was the strongest driver of changes to, and legacy effects on, soil microbial communities, agroecosystem multifunctionality and wheat yield." This is consistent across studies. Open access. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

This is also consistent across hundreds of studies: when a mixture gives the best results, it's a non-legume+legume. Here, oilseed+legume gave best results.

Hands of Poker demonstrate this - which one wins?

📝 New article on Our World in Data: Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? One of the most common questions we’re asked about food systems is whether organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods.

How do we get at honest & nature-inclusive policy measure for livestock farming in the Netherlands? Nitrogen has been at the centre of ongoing tensions in Dutch agricultural policy. Mirjam Schoonhoven-Speijer explores the history of the tensions & some proposed solutions. ➡️ buff.ly/xXHCrQI

"We need to understand nature is always self-organizing, self-regulating, self-healing." - Gabe Brown Pop ecology is the bread and butter of regenerative agriculture. Don't fall for it. yonearth.org/podcast/epis... csanr.wsu.edu/pop-ecology/

How Pop Ecology Misleads Agriculture

Romanticized “pop ecology” oversimplifies nature and leads to costly mistakes in real-world crop management.

csanr.wsu.edu

"Everything is connected" is true is the most trivial sense, but not in ways that matter. It's a romanticized nature-slogan that doesn't identify mechanisms or magnitudes of effects. Which connections matter for your field? Pop ecology won't tell you. csanr.wsu.edu/pop-ecology/

How Pop Ecology Misleads Agriculture

Romanticized “pop ecology” oversimplifies nature and leads to costly mistakes in real-world crop management.

csanr.wsu.edu

What can we learn from China on food security? TABLE's Matthew Kessler wrote a piece for @devex.com, reflecting on our latest podcast #Feeding1in6 He talks political will, tradeoffs & the sheer speed at which the nation has been able to shift from famine to feeding so many people.

What can we learn from China’s approach to food security?

Opinion: From famine to feast — what can the development sector take away and replicate or reject from China’s food systems transformation?

buff.ly

Today China produces 76 million tonnes of seafood a year, at a mounting environmental cost. This episode follows the small farms & the global infrastructure that connects them, & asks what happens when a government tries to course correct a system it deliberately set loose. buff.ly/VSKxGoe

China produces roughly half the world's pork. Achieving this required swine genetics from multiple continents, feed from Brazil, and a disease outbreak that wiped out hundreds of millions of animals. This episode asks how they did it, and what that cost: buff.ly/oZxy2Ou #Feeding1in6

Absolutely tragic. New York Times article on the unfolding catastrophe in Somalia due to worldwide wars and declines in humanitarian aid. “This is the era of indifference.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/b...

Catastrophe Is Emerging in the World’s Most Vulnerable Places

nytimes.com

What are we getting wrong about soy? April is National Soy Month in the US & we at TABLE are using as an excuse to examine 🔍 the various ideas we have about soy & the role it plays in our food system. Check out our soy newsletter: buff.ly/549AzVZ

How should we value nature in our food systems? Today on #EarthDay, as we reflect on the state of our planet, it's worth revisiting one of our recent explainers on the economics of nature and how we currently (and could) value nature in our food systems. Find the explainer here: buff.ly/MSJoLD7

🥦 Is eating more plants in the future actually a choice? 🥦 @paulbehrens.bsky.social breaks down how the plant-based future will arrive in this #FoodTakes video with @rebelwrit.bsky.social 🎥 Filmed at @britishecologicalsociety.org @oxfutureoffood.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

✨ THIS THURSDAY ✨ Our next TABLE webinar will focus on Bolivia, one of the fastest-changing soy frontiers in the region, & contrast it with Brazil, a place that is often synonymous with soy production. Join us for the discussion on 16 April: buff.ly/QeNVSX7

Soy looks different depending on where you sit. For Ryan Britt, who's farming 2,000 hectares in Missouri, it's the crop that reliably pays the bills. In 2025, the news cycle suddenly cared very much about a crop & a region it typically ignores. Our latest Feed Podcast episode: buff.ly/VKCiSxy

Is continuing soy expansion in Latin America inevitable? Our latest TABLE webinar will focus on Bolivia, one of the fastest-changing soy frontiers in the region, & contrast it with Brazil, a place that is often synonymous with soy production. Join us for the discussion on 16 April: buff.ly/QeNVSX7

New free webinar: Legumes in the EU’s R&I landscape Policy and programme updates, with Francisco Castro Alves youtu.be/ZiWQgItjsDo

Is continuing soy expansion in Latin America inevitable? Our latest TABLE webinar will focus on Bolivia, one of the fastest-changing soy frontiers in the region, & contrast it with Brazil, a place that is often synonymous with soy production. Join us for the discussion on 16 April: buff.ly/QeNVSX7

Is continuing soy expansion in Latin America inevitable? Our latest TABLE webinar will focus on Bolivia, one of the fastest-changing soy frontiers in the region, & contrast it with Brazil, a place that is often synonymous with soy production. Join us for the discussion on 16 April: buff.ly/QeNVSX7

news.un.org/en/story/202...

UN General Assembly adopts landmark resolution to strengthen the work of the UN system

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a landmark resolution to strengthen how UN mandates - the decisions taken by Member States that guide the Organisation’s work - are created, impl...

news.un.org

This Week in Palestine: Israeli Forces Allegedly Torture Gaza Toddler to Force His Father to Confess Zeteo's weekly round-up of the stories you may have missed out of occupied Gaza and the West Bank, as Israel continues its genocidal war and apartheid policies. Read now: zeteo.com/p/this-week-...

This Week in Palestine: Israeli Forces Allegedly Torture Gaza Toddler to Force His Father to Confess

Zeteo's weekly round-up of the stories you may have missed out of occupied Gaza and the West Bank, as Israel continues its genocidal war and apartheid policies.

zeteo.com

New free webinar next week: "The legacy of N2Africa: Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work for Smallholder Farmers in Africa", with Ken Giller. All details on our web page: www.legumesociety.org/ils-webinars...

Do we need smaller solutions? 🫘 In #FoodTakes 🥦 Episode 19, Jing Zhang of @ecioxford.bsky.social explains how beans might be the hero we all need on this #WorldPulsesDay! Check out more resources on beans here: mailchi.mp/tabledebates...

"Is grass-fed beef better for the climate?" asked The New York Times earlier this week. TABLE's director Tara Garnett weighed in: "The bulk of food-related emissions comes from a relatively small number of people eating quite a lot of meat . . ." Read the full piece here: buff.ly/1UBGx2Y

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The facts are stark: Europe must open the door to migrants, or face its own extinction | George Monbiot

These are the facts: plummeting birth rates mean that without attracting immigration, many countries are sliding towards collapse, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

What can serious games teach us about food systems, research, & collaboration? In a TABLE essay, @federicoandreotti.bsky.social provides an overview of serious games around farming & food systems, and he introduces the new games library, now available on TABLE's website! Read more: buff.ly/twzHol0

🚨 This morning we turned the street outside Labour Party Headquarters in London into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. Listen to @ahmedmasoud02.bsky.social talking about what the Israeli army did to his neighourhood and family.

We are delighted have Ken Giller @kengiller.bsky.social give a talk at our November meeting on 'Roots to RegenAg'. It'll be great to hear his perspective on the 'Perils of Populism and Precarious Promises'! Please plan to submit an abstract and register from June! cvent.me/0Zo9ae