This paper is the outcome of the Global Food Security Programme’s six-month project to identify priority research questions for the UK food system. It details the rationale, process and outcomes of Global Food Security project.
The identified priority research questions are aimed at improving the UK food system’s efficiency and effectiveness and complement other studies that have been framed from a more productionist viewpoint. The authors also try to adopt a wider understanding of “food security” – one that incorporates nutritional content, food safety, preferences and affordability in addition to availability of supply.
The paper includes specific questions for each of the 4 stakeholder groups involved: primary production stakeholders, the food industry and retail sector, governmental policymakers, and non-governmental organisation and advocacy organisation stakeholders.
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, non-governmental 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.
Citation
John S. I. Ingram, Hugh L. Wright, Lucy Foster, Timothy Aldred, David Barling, Tim G. Benton, Paul M. Berryman, Charles S. Bestwick, Alice Bows-Larkin, Tim F. Brocklehurst, Judith Buttriss, John Casey, Hannah Collins, Daniel S. Crossley, Catherine S. Dolan, Elizabeth Dowler, Robert Edwards, Karen J. Finney, Julie L. Fitzpatrick, Mark Fowler, David A. Garrett, Jim E. Godfrey, Andrew Godley, William Griffiths, Eleanor J. Houlston, Michel J. Kaiser, Robert Kennard, Jerry W. Knox, Andrew Kuyk, Bruce R. Linter, Jennie I. Macdiarmid, Wayne Martindale, John C. Mathers, Daniel F. McGonigle, Angela Mead, Samuel J. Millar, Anne Miller, Calum Murray, Ian T. Norton, Stephen Parry, Marilena Pollicino, Thomas E. Quested, Savvas Tassou, Leon A. Terry, Richard Tiffin, Pieter van de Graaf, William Vorley, Andrew Westby, William J. Sutherland, (2013), Priority research questions for the UK food system, Food Security, DOI 10.1007/s12571-013-0294-4
John Ingram, Food Systems Programme Leader of the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) - Oxford University, and FCRN member, has additionally written a blog post on the Global Food Security website discussing the findings of the paper and encouraging further collaborations in developing and implementing the research.
To access the paper go to the publisher website here (you will need a journal subscription to do so). You can also read a pdf here describing the results from the Global Food Security Programme, summarising the top research questions.
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