Food systems

Systems of food production, trade and consumption are increasingly vulnerable to interconnected political, economic and ecological shocks and stresses associated with climate and environmental changes, shifts in farming practices, uneven power dynamics and consumer lifestyle changes.

N8 AgriFood’s unique collaboration of 8 universities, and its multidisciplinary approach covering social and physical sciences, enables us to offer a full systems approach to solving food chain challenges.

Some of our Food Systems work undertaken within N8 AgriFood sits alongside the IKnowFood (IKF) programme, led by N8 AgriFood Chair and Director of the Policy Hub – Professor Bob Doherty. IKnowFood is a 4 year project funded as a result of the N8 Agrifood programme and involves collaborators from the University of York and the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester and is funded by the Global Food Security Programme.

The IKF team are also actively training early career researchers in the UK and internationally in food systems approaches to embed systems thinking into the next generation of researchers and food professionals. Read more….

Outputs of the IKnowFood’s Food Systems research include:

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) report - Food insecurity exposed by COVID-19

N8 AgriFood academics contributed to this COVID-19 focused report with evidence on the rising severity of UK food poverty, particularly in children, as well as the crucial role played by undisrupted cross-border food supply chains during lockdown.

House of Commons International Trade Committee report - COVID-19 and international trade

Following N8 AgriFood academics Prof. Bob Doherty and Prof. Fiona Smith giving evidence to the House of Commons International Trade Committee on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, their expert opinions have helped to inform this report.

National Food Strategy - Part One

Food Systems Policy Hub Director and N8 AgriFood Chair for the University of York, Prof. Bob Doherty, was invited to share his expert advice at the first National Food Strategy citizen engagement event.

POSTnote - A resilient UK food system

N8 AgriFood teamed up with POST to offer a three-month placement to Joe Llanos, a fourth year PhD student at the University of Sheffield. During his placement, Joe produced this POSTnote which explores what a more resilient UK food system would look like.

York Citizen Food Assembly Policy Brief

N8 AgriFood researchers contributed to the Policy Brief which came out of the York Citizen Food Assembly, aimed at guiding the National Food Strategy.

Co-op Future of Food

N8 AgriFood chair Professor Bob Doherty helped to shape the Co-op Future of Food vision, and was one of the keynote speakers at the launch in September 2018.

WWF Living Planet Report 2018

N8 AgriFood researcher Dr Chris West contributed a section on the dynamics and interdependencies of production-to-consumption systems to the 2018 WWF Living Planet Report.