Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kate Sievert

Amy Carrad @amycarrad.bsky.social · Jul 4

Why does #finance matter in #foodsystems?

Great question! If you want to find out the answer, don't miss the Hothouse's July #SavingTheWorld webinar, with @katesievert.bsky.social.

📅 17th July 2025
🕧 12:30pm AEST
🔗 hothouse.anu.edu.au/event/why-fi...

@preventioncentre.bsky.social

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Rob Percival @rob-percival.bsky.social · Jun 18

"This judgment sets a critical precedent. Local planning authorities can no longer treat each factory farm unit as isolated when together they create a systemic environmental crisis." 🙌

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

At last, a victory for rivers over megafarms: now councils can’t treat toxic waste as someone else’s problem | Charles Watson

We won a high court case against Shropshire council’s plans for a new polluting poultry unit. Now a precedent has been set, says River Action founder Charles Watson

www.theguardian.com

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Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Jun 16

Political corruption, conflicts of interest, taking public money, fixing prices, ecological harm, escaping conviction - this is the consistent story of Big Food and Ag companies - they aren't just 'more efficient' - they got that way by stepping on others

www.ft.com/content/d293...

The controversial return of Brazil’s billionaire beef barons

The world’s largest meatpacker, JBS, listed in New York on Friday, marking a dramatic turnaround for the Batista brothers

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Kate Sievert

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · Jun 13

France has become the 1st country to tax fast fashion garments, made by the likes of Temu & Shein.

As the world’s biggest consumer of textiles per capita in the world, our research shows that Australia could implement a similar scheme to reduce our mountainous issue of fashion waste. #auspol

A new tax to help Australians kick their fast fashion addiction - The Australia Institute

France has become the first country in the world to tax ultra-fast fashion brands like Temu and Shein.

australiainstitute.org.au

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[email protected] @viacampesina.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · Jun 5

🇺🇳 Treaty on Transnational Corporations and their Supply Chains with regards to Human Rights

🌐 Global Campaign to Reclaim People Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity
✊🏽 https://www.stopcorporateimpunity.org

#bindingtreaty
#stopcorporateimpunity
#stopTNCimpunity

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Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Jun 6

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Happy to share this new article just published in Food Policy journal! We show that concentrated corporate power matters for people's agency within food systems.

Open access! Highlights and abstract below

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Ben Wood @benjaminmwood.bsky.social · Jun 9

Another excellent & helpful paper from Jennifer Clapp & colleagues explaining why excessive corporate power in food systems (& beyond) needs to be addressed. Highly recommend! May be of interest @criticaltakes.bsky.social @katesievert.bsky.social @hfsaus.bsky.social

Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Jun 6

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Happy to share this new article just published in Food Policy journal! We show that concentrated corporate power matters for people's agency within food systems.

Open access! Highlights and abstract below

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Reposted by Kate Sievert

DrDinD.bsky.social @drdind.bsky.social · May 29

RFK Jr's "MAHA" report came out last week. It misinterpreted data, had broken links to some citations, and cited 7 articles that don't exist.

That last one is a hallmark of AI hallucinations.

How much of the MAHA report was AI generated? 🤔

www.notus.org/health-scien...

The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist

The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.

www.notus.org

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Kate Sievert @katesievert.bsky.social · May 20

@tammois.bsky.social

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · May 18

taking the opportunity to shamelessly promoting my research on corporate power and UPFs off the back of @theguardian.com's investigative work

we need to start thinking about industry strategies in terms of a wider political economy of delay

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

UK government dropped health push after lobbying by ultra-processed food firms

Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals guidance for retailers in England changed after campaign by global food firms

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Kate Sievert

Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · May 17

I used a lot of FOIs for a research project on multistakeholder partnerships and the role of the FDF - hard to think of a trade association that’s been more effective at lobbying policy makers

www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publicati...

The informal governance of public-private partnerships in UK obesity policy: Collaborating on calorie reduction or reducing effectiveness?

www.research.ed.ac.uk

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Stuart Gillespie @stuartgillespie.bsky.social · May 19

Great to see this get the attention it deserves @theguardian.com @thesoilassociation.bsky.social @rob-percival.bsky.social @andrewgregory.com

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Ben Allen @evodynamics.bsky.social · May 19

Israeli leaders could literally say "we will genocide until there is no more genocide to be genocided" and the world will still be like "gosh it's so complicated"

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · May 19

"The bare minimum will reach the population - simply so the world doesn't stop us and accuse us of war crimes."

www.bbc.com/news/live/cq...

BBC News:
IDF is destroying everything that remains of Gaza, far-right Israeli minister says
published at 07:19
07:19
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel's new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, August 17, 2023.
Image source,Reuters
We can now bring you some lines from a press conference held this morning by Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

He says the little amount of food entering the Strip will not reach Hamas: "The bare minimum will reach the population - simply so the world doesn't stop us and accuse us of war crimes."

"What will enter in the coming days is very little: a few bakeries distributing pita bread to people, and public kitchens providing one daily serving of cooked food."

Civilians, he says, will receive one pita and a plate of food - "that's it".

He adds that Israel's military is "destroying everything that remains of the Strip", describing the territory as "one big terror city".

He says civilians will be moved out of combat zones as the army leaves "no stone unturned".

"The population will reach the south of the Strip, and from there, with God’s help, to third countries," he says.

As we've been reporting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will take control of all of Gaza.

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Emma Calvert @emmacalvert.bsky.social · May 17

👀Absolutely fascinating insight into the tone the UK food industry feels it can take when lobbying public authorities to amend food policy to their liking.

Reads more like demands of a disappointed boss than an industry stakeholder talking to govt authorities…

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Rob Percival @rob-percival.bsky.social · May 17

I spent the half-year working on this investigation. Extraordinary influence of UPF lobby behind the scenes.

'UK government dropped health push after lobbying by ultra-processed food firms' 👇

www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

UK government dropped health push after lobbying by ultra-processed food firms

Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals guidance for retailers in England changed after campaign by global food firms

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Kate Sievert

Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Apr 28

Trade war bites agrifood markets: China cancels 12k tonnes of US pork orders and seeks to buy instead from Brazil.

www.feedstuffs.com/market-news/...

China cancels U.S. pork shipments after tariffs raise prices

World’s biggest importer has started welcoming more supplies from countries such as Brazil.

www.feedstuffs.com

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Kate Sievert @katesievert.bsky.social · Apr 26

Thanks for sharing Rob 🙏🏻

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Kate Sievert @katesievert.bsky.social · Apr 26

It was also revealed this week that one of JBS’ subsidiaries was the largest donor to Trump’s inauguration….! No connection, I’m sure.

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · Apr 26

JBS - the world's biggest meat company - has been approved for NYSE listing, a move that is likely to exacerbate deforestation in the Amazon

@katesievert.bsky.social and colleagues have done a fascinating analysis on how the company has become so powerful

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘National champions’ in global meat supply chains: implications for governance and corporate power in food systems

National champion policies in BRICS countries pose challenges for governance in global meat processing markets as they increase concentration, reduce competition and enhance corporate power in food...

www.tandfonline.com

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Civil Eats @civileats.com · Apr 23

Embattled Meat Giant JBS Cleared for NYSE Listing, Was Trump’s Largest Inauguration Donor

Read the latest from the Food Policy Tracker. ➡️ buff.ly/Mk2Un24

Embattled Meat Giant JBS Cleared for NYSE Listing, Was Trump’s Largest Inauguration Donor

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cleared JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) yesterday, and the company announced it will hold a shareholder vote on the listing on May 23.

Environmental organizations, animal welfare groups, and investors have been fighting to keep the Brazilian company from achieving an IPO for about a year and half based on its record of bribery, corruption, and environmental destruction.

Many of those groups decried the SEC’s approval of the registration. In one statement, Laura Fox, a research scholar in Yale Law School’s Law, Environment, & Animals Program, said that by not resolving allegations that the company made misleading claims about its role in driving climate change and biodiversity loss, the SEC failed in its obligation to protect investors.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · Apr 17

And if you were wondering why the state-supported growth of a Brazilian meat company might matter to anyone else ...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · Apr 17

New on Critical Takes:

How "national champions" from Brazil and China are becoming global giants in the meat industry.

criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

Fascinating take from @katesievert.bsky.social and co-authors on power shifts in an industry with huge effects on health, workers and nature.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · Apr 17

New on Critical Takes:

How "national champions" from Brazil and China are becoming global giants in the meat industry.

criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

Fascinating take from @katesievert.bsky.social and co-authors on power shifts in an industry with huge effects on health, workers and nature.

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Kate Sievert @katesievert.bsky.social · Apr 17

We wrote a piece on our national champions paper for Critical Takes! Check it out criticaltakes.org/society-and-... 🥩

@diarmidos.bsky.social @ipes-food.org

Critical Takes

criticaltakes.org

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Amy Carrad @amycarrad.bsky.social · Apr 10

One week until this #SavingTheWorld webinar with guest Professor @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social, hosted by the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse.
📆17th April
🕥10:30am AEST
🔗Register for the Zoom link: hothouse.anu.edu.au/event/titans...

@anuregnet.bsky.social @uwaterloo.ca @anuagrifood.bsky.social

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Stuart Gillespie @stuartgillespie.bsky.social · Apr 1

🔥new commentary in World Nutrition

'Use your Power'

worldnutritionjournal.org/index.php/wn...

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