Understanding food in a digital world (part of the 2020 ESRC festival)

Head of Social ScienceFood Standards Agency

Michelle Patel

presented as part of the 2020 ESRC Festival, in partnership with the University of Sheffield

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the social sciences. Social science is the study of society and the manner in which people behave and influence the world around us. It tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience and can help explain how society works. Food is something we all have in common, the risks are complex, both systemic and personal and there is little that is closer to home. The COVID 19 outbreak has necessitated a move away from more traditional data collection methods, and accelerated the innovative use of digital data. In the Food Standards Agency (FSA) we make sure that the understanding of what people throughout the food chain think, feel and do informs our risk assessment and our risk management. We collect primary data as well as use secondary data sources using the methods of social scientific enquiry – rapid evidence assessments, literature and systematic reviews, surveys, controlled trials, case studies, observational research and analysis of administrative and survey data – to measure, describe, explain and predict and evaluate social and economic phenomena to policy makers. This ESRC festival event ‘Understanding Food in a Digital world’ will demonstrate how digital data collection and analysis can inform our understanding of food, and outline key findings related to the digitalisation of food behaviours. It will cover the recent modification of the FSA flagship survey, Food and You, digital self-report methods on handwashing behaviour and key findings from our recent social media analysis, including COVID 19 trends in food behaviour as well as presentations from leading academics in this field.The event, arranged in partnership with the University of Sheffield, offers an excellent opportunity for anyone in the social science community to hear about how social science directly informs real life policy making in a government context under rapidly changing circumstances. As well as learning about the work and priorities of the FSA, virtual break out sessions will provide an opportunity to discuss ideas with experts from academia, industry and policy.

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Understanding food in a digital world (part of the 2020 ESRC festival)

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Understanding food in a digital world (part of the 2020 ESRC festival)

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