Typical questions

• • I need data on milk production in Germany.

• • Where can I find out which food additives are legal?

Starting points

• • Students of food science may also be interested in nutrition (see Medical Science and Biology); the composition of food (see Chemistry); the food industry (See Tourism and Hospitality and Business Studies).

• • Agricultural studies can encompass famine, which is covered in the International Development chapter.

Recommended resources

Key organisations – agriculture

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food- rural-affairs

UK government department responsible for food production and standards, agriculture and fisheries. Access news, policy documents and data, plus links to associated agencies including those for food standards and safety. Remember governmental responsibilities change so consult the Government Publications chapter for advice on tracing older materials.

Food and Agriculture Organization

www.fao.org

Specialised agency of the United Nations that focuses on eliminating world hunger. Its website is a rich source of information on food security, nutrition and production worldwide. It has extensive material on programmes in the developing world. Access full text, news reports and data.

Statistical data

Food and Agriculture Organization

www.fao.org/statistics/databases

The official website provides free access to a number of specialist databases. These include:

• • FAOSTAT – comprehensive coverage of agricultural data for 245 nations from 1961 onwards.

• • AQUASTAT – data on agricultural water management worldwide.

Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) – provides information on food production and food security. Includes a commodity price database.

FAO/OECD Agricultural Outlook

www.agri-outlook.org

Provides an annual assessment of prospects for the coming decade for national, regional and global agricultural commodities. Free access to the website. Downloading restricted to subscribers.

Digital libraries

These all provide access to journal articles.

AgEcon Search [Specialist]

ageconsearch.umn.edu

An open access repository of journal articles, conference and working papers in agricultural and applied economics, which is maintained by the University of Minnesota.

Agriculture Network Information Centre (AgNIC)

www.agnic.org

Searchable guide to quality internet resources in agriculture, which is maintained by an alliance of American libraries and organisations, including the National Agricultural Library. Many of the items are full text. Covers policy and science.