Developing Sustainable Food Systems in Europe: National Policies and Stakeholder Perspectives in a Four-Country Analysis.

To address climate change, health, and food-related challenges at the international and regional level, policy makers and researchers are starting to acknowledge the importance of building and developing sustainable food systems (SFSs). This study aims to discuss the drivers of, barriers to, and policy recommendations for developing sustainable food systems in four European countries (Germany, Italy, Norway, and Romania). We used critical frame analysis to investigate national policy documents on sustainable food systems and conducted in-depth interviews with various national stakeholders representing policy makers, agrifood businesses, and civil society.

Magnetic-field-induced nematic-nematic phase separation and droplet formation in colloidal goethite.

We demonstrate the suitability of polarization microscopy to study the recently discovered (parallel) nematic-(perpendicular) nematic phase separation. This novel type of phase transition is induced by applying an external magnetic field to a nematic liquid crystal of boardlike colloidal goethite and is due to an interplay between the intrinsic magnetic properties of goethite and the collective effect of liquid crystal formation. It is shown that the intense ochre colour of goethite does not preclude the use of polarization microscopy and interference colours, and that dichroism can give valuable qualitative information on the nature of the phases, their anchoring and their sedimentation and order parameter profiles.