Priority research questions for the UK food system

Abstract

The rise of food security up international political, societal and academic agendas has led to increasing interest in novel means of improving primary food production and reducing waste. There are however, also many 'post-farm gate' activities that are critical to food security, including processing, packaging, distributing, retailing, cooking and consuming. These activities all affect a range of important food security elements, notably availability, affordability and other aspects of access, nutrition and safety. Addressing the challenge of universal food security, in the context of a number of other policy goals (e.g. social, economic and environmental sustainability), is of keen interest to a range of UK stakeholders but requires an up-to-date evidence base and continuous innovation. An exercise was therefore conducted, under the auspices of the UK Global Food Security Programme, to identify priority research questions with a focus on the UK food system (though the outcomes may be broadly applicable to other developed nations). Emphasis was placed on incorporating a wide range of perspectives ('world views') from different stakeholder groups: policy, private sector, nongovernmental organisations, advocacy groups and academia. A total of 456 individuals submitted 820 questions from which 100 were selected by a process of online voting and a three-stage workshop voting exercise. These 100 final questions were sorted into 10 themes and the 'top' question for each theme identified by a further voting exercise. This step also allowed four different stakeholder groups to select the top 7-8 questions from their perspectives. Results of these voting exercises are presented. It is clear from the wide range of questions prioritised in this exercise that the different stakeholder groups identified specific research needs on a range of post-farm gate activities and food security outcomes. Evidence needs related to food affordability, nutrition and food safety (all key elements of food security) featured highly in the exercise. While there were some questions relating to climate impacts on production, other important topics for food security (e.g. trade, transport, preference and cultural needs) were not viewed as strongly by the participants.

An agenda for integrated system-wide interdisciplinary agri-food research

“…While many have emphasised the need to focus on increasing crop yields and improving the efficiency of agricultural production through 'sustainable intensification' (Garnett et al 2013), it is increasingly recognised that the insights of political and social science are as important as technological advances in agri-food science. As Ingram et al conclude: 'scientific and policy attention has … mainly focused on increasing total production through increases in yield [which] arguably risks ignoring people's anxieties about sustaining access to food … and the other nutritional, social and economic aspects of food security' (Ingram et al 2013). Thus, we conclude that achieving adequate food production whilst ensuring environmental and economic sustainability and promoting human health and social equity will require changes in all parts of the food system.…”

Approaches for modelling the energy flow in food chains

“…However, in order to allow the proper selection of a modelling method, it is important for the user to understand the particularities of the model. The rationale for this paper therefore relates to the need for examining the benefits and drawbacks of current modelling approaches employed in relation to the food chain and its products and to understand the degree to which such approaches capture the complex and nonlinear interactive behaviour of the food-energy components [25,26]. The modelling approaches considered in this review are 'bottom-up', 'top-down' and hybrid, and their appreciation will aid in identifying and consolidating new developments in food-energy/GHG models and in elaborating on the performances and discrepancies of current models.…”

Openness to Social Science Knowledges? The Politics of Disciplinary Collaboration within the Field of UK Food Security Research

“…The programme has always promoted what it refers to as an interdisciplinary approach to research and has initiated some influential research agenda‐setting exercises that have engaged a wide range of certified and non‐certified expertise (Ingram et al . ). Two recent funding calls (2015 and 2016) associated with the global food security programme on the resilience of the UK food system required applicants to address the interests of each of the three main research councils sponsoring the call: the Biological and Biotechnological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council.…”