Transforming food systems

About our research

Transforming Food Systems is a research programme dedicated to radically rethinking the way food is produced, distributed, and consumed to address some of the greatest health, environmental, and equity challenges of the 21st century. Today’s food systems are a major driver of planetary degradation—contributing to climate change, biodiversity loss, water pollution, and land degradation—while simultaneously failing to ensure adequate and nutritious diets for billions. The programme recognises that global food insecurity, undernutrition, and diet-related diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes are interconnected outcomes of an unsustainable and unjust food system. With the global population set to rise significantly by 2050, and with one-third of all food lost or wasted, urgent change is needed.  

This transformation demands a systemic, multi-actor approach that bridges science, policy, culture, and community. The programme explores integrated solutions across the entire food system—from sustainable production and land use to supply chain resilience, food safety, equity, and culturally appropriate healthy diets. We investigate how technological innovation, ecological stewardship, and community-driven change can be combined to foster food systems that are both nutritionally adequate and environmentally sustainable. With a strong focus on social justice, the programme seeks to empower individuals and institutions to co-create food futures that are fair, inclusive, and resilient for both people and the planet.

Thematic areas 

1. Food chain innovation and resilience: Advancing technological and logistical innovation across the UK food system to strengthen sustainability, increase domestic capacity, and enhance resilience to environmental and economic shocks. This includes embedding circular food system principles—such as by-product valorisation and waste-to-resource innovation—and addressing the role of food sustainability in sectors like hospitality and tourism.  
2. Nutrition, health, and safe food futures: Defining and delivering diverse, acceptable, and sustainable diets that promote lifelong health, while ensuring novel foods, ingredients, and production methods are safe, culturally relevant, and nutritionally adequate.   
3. Equity, justice, and systemic change: Embedding social justice into food systems by addressing accessibility, affordability, and food rights, and supporting inclusive policy and governance frameworks across local, national, and global levels. This includes food insecurity, school and community food access, and the development of food policy that integrates environmental and social priorities.  
4. Consumer trust, acceptance, and behaviour: Investigating how people engage with food innovations—such as alternative proteins, labelling schemes, and circular products—and how trust, transparency, and communication influence food choices. This theme also explores behavioural change related to food waste, sustainability in tourism, and the adoption of new dietary practices.