The second and final research funding call in the UKRI-SPF Transforming the UK Food Systems programme is now open, and YESI are running a workshop to link UoY researchers interested in developing interdisciplinary research project submissions to this call.

The programme focuses on two overarching questions:

If we put healthy people and a healthy natural environment at the heart of the food system, what would we eat, how would we encourage people to eat it, and where would that food come from? What would we grow and manufacture in the UK and what would we need to import?
In delivering this transformed food system, what interventions would be needed across government, business and civil society?

Three thematic areas are to be addressed in this call:

Transforming food environments - improving public health for all sections of society by reducing the consumption of foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt
Sustainable nutrition across the food system - transform the UK food system from a focus on ‘calories per unit area’ to one that prioritises the ‘number of people fed healthily and sustainably per unit area’ in an equitable and just way.
Food imports and domestic production - understand where our food would come from in a healthy and environmentally sustainable food system, and how this might be best achieved in practice from a biological, environmental, social, economic and cultural perspective. It could consider the role of imports and food standards (public and private) in ensuring a healthy and sustainable UK food supply, whilst minimising our impact overseas.

Funding available is between £250,000 - £2m at 80% FEC. Proposals need to be disruptive, take a food systems approach and be codesigned with stakeholder partners.

Transforming UK Food Systems for Health and Environment Workshop