Newsletter: October 2023 

Have you recently published work on a food-related theme, completed a project, or been awarded a grant? Are you planning an event that colleagues should know about, or have you heard of such events elsewhere? Are you aware of opportunities or resources that might be of interest to other network members? Please forward these to us for inclusion in the next Exeter Food newsletter.

NEWS

Invite your students to Exeter Food!

Please invite students on your courses or modules with an interest in food to sign up to the Exeter Food research network. The benefits of joining include receiving updates on food-related research, events, resources, and opportunities. The link to our registration form is here.

Dartmouth Food Festival

Friday October 20th to Sunday October 22nd

The Dartmouth Food Festival hosts a diverse range of workshops, seminars, tastings, competitions, and demonstrations provided by various exhibitors, with many from Devon. The festival is open to all and offers free admission! Tickets for the event can be obtained through the festival's website. This year, our very own Fatma Sabet is joining as a guest festival expert panellist!

Publication: "Confronting Sustainability: An Ethnography of Sustainability on Elite British Chefs"

Jed Hilton, a member of Exeter Food, recently published an article derived from his PhD thesis titled "Confronting Sustainability: An Ethnography of Sustainability on Elite British Chefs" in Gastronomica (23(3): 65-73, 2023). In this ethnographic account, Hilton examines elite chefs in Britain and their attitudes towards sustainability in the restaurant industry. The article highlights that sustainability is not a straightforward concept, often conflicting with other ethical principles like multiculturalism and affordability. It offers insights into how sustainability is perceived, applied, and sometimes misused within a market-oriented context. The full article is available here.

Publication on a historical perspective of the drivers of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption in Jamaica

Exeter Food members Professors Conny Guell and Nigel Unwin and Dr Ruth Thurstan with colleagues at the University of the West Indies published a paper entitled ‘Situating commercial determinants of health in their historical context: a qualitative study of sugar-sweetened beverages in Jamaica’. A transdisciplinary team of social scientists, historians, public health researchers and ecologists asked how ahistorical perspective can help us understand the drivers of high-level Sugar Sweetened Beverage consumption in Jamaica. This Caribbean case study of commercial determinants of health points to the important historical context of global market-driven economies and the involvement of private sector interests in public health policies and governance. The team suggests that the understanding and compelling telling of the historical economic drivers of contemporary public health challenges is a vital tool in the public health toolbox for analysis and advocacy.

EVENTS

Why Food Matters – An Exeter Food public event with guest speaker Paul Freedman

Tuesday, October 17th 16:30- 18:30 at Harrison Building (room 103), or online via Zoom.

Why does food matter? Beyond the obvious fact that food is biologically necessary, it also has historical and political importance. This is manifested through basic commodities (the significance of wheat in the current Russian war with Ukraine, for example). Some of the major shifts in the past thousand years were the result of demand for luxuries such as spices, which motivated European voyages of discovery and colonisation. Food also defines us culturally, as nations (fish and chips), regions (mushy peas)and by class divisions (caviar). Join us on Tuesday, October 17th as we welcome Professor Paul Freedman from Yale University to discuss his recent book, 'Why Food Matters.' Register to attend here.

Geography Ecology Seminar: Strategies for strengthening family farming in the Brazilian Amazon, by Alexandre Olival

Wednesday, October 18th 12:30 - 13:30 at Seminar Room 04 /Forum) and online via Teams.

The University of Exeter’s Geography Ecology Group is delighted to host Prof. Alexandre Olival from Ouro Verde Institute and the University of Mato Grosso in Brazil to speak about "Strategies for strengthening family farming: The experience of Ouro Verde Institute in the Brazilian Amazon". You can find further info on the Geography Ecology group seminar schedule here.

Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity (UBVO), University of Oxford seminar series

The University of Oxford's UBVO is hosting a 2023 Michaelmas Term seminar series in collaboration with UBVO Australia and the UK, organised by Zofia Boni and Stanley Ulijaszek. These seminars are on Thursdays from 4 to 5 pm via Zoom (Meeting ID: 890 1052 1271, Passcode: 069750) Everyone is welcome to attend, more details can be found below:

19th October- Emily Yates-Doerr Oregon State University ‘American mal-nutrition: Interventions into the science and policy of maternal health’

26th October- Anne Saab Geneva Graduate Institute ‘Emotions in international food law’

2nd November- Ellen Margrete Iveland Ersfjord University of Agder, Norway ‘Why is there a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in rural areas? A qualitative study of rural children's perspectives of rural foodways'

9th November - Susan Greenhalgh Harvard University ‘Soda science: How coke created a global science of exercise for obesity (1995-2015) and why it matters today’

16th November- Tayla von Ash Brown University  ‘Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities for childhood obesity’

23rd November Kàtia Lurbe i Puerto Sciences Po, Paris  ‘The stakes around bariatric surgery in France: A critical sociology of the medical community and of public policies’

30th November Ilya Gutin University of Texas at Austin  ‘When the measure becomes the metric: making sense of the body mass index in research and practice’

CRPR Seminar Series

The Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR) are delighted to invite you to our Seminar Series. The seminars will be run as hybrid events however we would encourage in-person attendance in the Byrne House Boardroom wherever possible. To register your interest or for further information please contact Melissa Hawkins on CRPR@Exeter.ac.uk.

Wednesday 1st November 10:45am-12:15pm - Allan Butler (Environment Agency). The invention of nature to its metrification. Byrne House Boardroom or via Teams. Full details here.

Wednesday 22nd November 10:45am-12:15pm - Rosie McVey (University of Exeter). Learning From The Herd?: Ethics and Intercorporeality in Equine-Assisted Therapy. Byrne House Boardroom or via Teams. Full details here.

Wednesday 13th December 10:45am-12:15pm - Becky Willson (Farm Carbon Toolkit). Managing carbon on-farm. Byrne House Boardroom or via Teams. Full details here.

CYP Wellbeing Network seminar series- Miranda Pallan - Food and the food environment in secondary schools: how do they influence students’ diets and eating behaviours?

Thursday 9th November12:00-1:00pm Live at St Luke’s Campus EMS Building room S11, or via live stream at Penryn Campus lecture 1 and Streatham Campus Peter Chalk room 2.4.

Professor Miranda Pallan from the University of Birmingham will discuss key findings from the NIHR-funded FUEL School Food study, which examined the implementation of national school food policy in secondary schools and its impact on students' dietary intake. Please register to attend via EventBrite or contact cypwellbeing@exeter.ac.uk for more information.

Exeter Food Term 1 pechakucha seminar

Monday 13th November 9:45-11:15 via Teams.

These events aim to introduce us to our colleagues’ work, provide input and encourage collaboration. Presentations will be short (7-8 minutes), with time for discussion. The speakers for this seminar are below and more information is available here.

Natalia Lawrence- Associate Professor in Translational Medicine, Dept of Psychology. Training Emotional and Behavioural Responses to Food to Change Eating Behaviour.

Hugh Williamson- Research Fellow in Responsible Innovation for Digital Agriculture, Department of Management and Sarah Hartley-Professor of Technology Governance, Department of Management. Beastly Disruption or Responsible Transformation in Animal Agriculture? Stakeholder perceptions of digital livestock technologies.

John Lidwell-Durnin- Lecturer in History Explaining Famine: Subsistence crises and the production of agricultural data in eighteenth century Britain.

Okechukwu Okorie- RAEng Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Manufacturing, Dept of Engineering. Digital Technologies Enabling a Circular Food Supply Chain: The blockchain technology example.

Plant-Based diets for Lifelong Health and Sustainability

Wednesday 8th November 1:30-5pm in the Forum Exp Lab 2 and Forum Kitchen

Switching to plant-based diets can reduce 24% of premature deaths and has a 75% lower environmental impact compared to meat-heavy diets. This event explores the transition to plant-based diets for improved health and a healthier environment, featuring research talks and interactive stalls to provide the latest insights and guidance. Stalls are open to everyone but places for the talks and tastings are limited, so please register here. Full details here. 

Programme of talks:

1.45-2: Why we need to eat less meat and more plants and how to do it. Natalia Lawrence (Assoc Prof., Psychology)

2-2.15: How temporary abstinence campaigns(meat-free Mondays, Veganuary) can support healthier and more sustainable diets. Sophie Hearn (PhD student, Psychology)

2.15-2.30: How children and adults differ in thinking about eating animals. Luke Mcguire (Lecturer, Psychology)

2.30-2.45: School Food and the Landscape Plate. Fatma Sabet (Postdoctoral researcher, Business School)

2.45-3: Why do we need plants to feed our gut microbiome? Luciana Torquati (Senior Lecturer in Nutrition, Sports and Health Sciences)

3-3.15: Vegan protein can build muscle too! Ino Van Der Heijden (PhD student, Nutritional Physiology, Sports and Health Sciences)

3.15-3.30: Discussion

At 4.30 head to the Forum Kitchen to try delicious plant-based foods prepared by our chefs.

Personalised Nutrition for Metabolic Health- an Exeter Food talk by Dr Sarah Berry

Tuesday 28th November- 13:30-14:30 via Zoom  

Dr. Sarah Berry is a Nutritional Sciences expert at King's College London and Chief Scientist at ZOE Ltd. In her talk she will discuss the importance of personalised nutrition and the limitations of one-size-fits-all dietary advice. She will stress the importance of extensive, accurate data that integrates various factors like diet, lifestyle, physiology, genetics, and metagenomics. Her talk will focus on two main points: 1) why personalised nutrition makes sense, and 2) the latest progress in these areas, spotlighting the ZOEPREDICT program, which uses AI to predict individuals respond to food.

Royal Society conference on "Advancing the Science of Human Nutrition"

The Royal Society is organising a "Transforming our Future Conference" focused on "Advancing the Science of Human Nutrition." This conference is scheduled for December 4th and will delve into how cutting-edge research in both industry and academia is contributing to our knowledge of human nutrition. To find more details and register for online attendance, please visit the following link: Royal Society Nutrition Conference.

OPPORTUNITIES

Exeter Food is keen to support members in the development of research proposals. If you have an idea that you would like to explore in a “sandpit” with colleagues and potential partners, or a draft proposal on which you would like feedback from colleagues, please contact the network lead, Harry G West (h.g.west@exeter.ac.uk). 

Public Health Research Fellowships – applications open

The NIHR School for Public Health Research has introduced a flexible fellowship program, offering pre-doctoral and post-doctoral options, both full-time and part-time. It's open to individuals seeking careers in public health research, whether in academia or practice. Applicants with public health practice experience are also encouraged. The application deadline is 23rd October with additional details available here. Feel free to contact Dr. Kerry Ann Brown for an informal discussion about applying in this or future rounds.

Post-Doctoral Research Scientist Position at Rothamsted Research

Rothamsted Research Institute are seeking a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist with an interdisciplinary or social science background to assist with their UK-based Natural and Beneficial Systems (NBS) experiments, including the Large Scale Rotation Experiment. More information is available here, applications close on 27th October.

Bayer Consumer Health seeks Novel Nutrition ingredients or Prenatal Nutrition Experts

Bayer is seeking solutions in the area of optimising pregnancy outcomes for their brands like Elevit, which offers multivitamins and health solutions for parents and parents to be. They are particularly interested to hear about the following:

1. Novel nutritional ingredients with promising data in the prenatal space, including known nutrients, natural extracts, and nature-derived compounds

2. Connecting with key opinion leaders (KOLs) who can provide insights into pregnancy science and access to pregnancy cohorts and relevant data sets.

The deadline for proposals is 31 October 2023, and more details can be found here

"Food & Hybridity" - Call for Papers for the 2024 Food Conference in Perugia, Italy.

The Perugia Food Conference at the Umbra Institute, Italy, runs from July 13th to July 16th, 2024, featuring Prof. Heather Paxson from MIT as the keynote speaker. The theme is "Food and Hybridity," Submissions are open for individual papers, full panel proposals, and roundtable discussions. The deadline for submissions is 31st December, please visit the conference website for more information and the submission form.

Pre-announcement for interdisciplinary research funding to address epidemic threats

UKRI offers a new grant opportunity with £1 million in funding (max award: £100,000) to seed interdisciplinary teams for research on epidemic diseases in humans, animals, and plants. The application deadline is pending, more details are accessible here, with updates to follow.

Farming Innovation Programme – feasibility round 3 –Innovation Funding Service

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), is launching this funding competition to fund feasibility studies in investigating new solutions that will address major on-farm or immediate post farm gate challenges or opportunities. It is part of their Farming Innovation Programme which is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK’s Transforming Food Production (TFP) Challenge. Your project’s total costs must be between£200,000 and £500,000. Your proposal must be able to demonstrate how the project will benefit farmers, growers, or foresters in England. The competition opens on 18th September and closes at 11.00 on 15th November. More information is available here.

RESOURCES

Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST)briefing on environmental impact metrics for food systems

POSTnotes are peer reviewed scientific briefings produced for UK parliamentarians, and input from academics is regularly sought by the POST Team. Recent publications include:

Measuring sustainable environment-food system interactions

This POSTnote describes environmental impact metrics for food systems, which are complex networks of decision-makers, natural processes, and human activities.

Child food insecurity and Free School Meals

This POSTnote outlines trends and associated risk outcomes of child food insecurity and provides an overview of Free School Meals initiatives in England (including eligibility and funding). This briefing also evaluates the evidence for the benefits and challenges for Free School Meals and outlines future policy considerations suggested by stakeholders. 

You can subscribe to receive newly published POSTnotes or information about POSTnotes to which you might which to contribute here.