Food supply in a changing world

Developing resilient food systems has never been so important

As part of the launch of our Food Systems Policy Hub, Professor Bob Doherty from the University of York and Food Systems Policy Hub Director, considered food supply in a changing world in a webinar on Monday 9 November 2020.

Given the external shocks of both COVID-19 and Brexit, developing secure, resilient and sustainable food systems is essential. In this webinar speakers from academia and industry considered the following topics and debated the issues raised.

  • Professor Bob Doherty, Professor of Marketing, and Professor Tony Heron, Professor of International Political Economy, University of York – Vulnerability of fresh fruit and vegetable supply to the UK
  • Dr Eleonora Morganti, University Academic Fellow in Urban Food Consumption, Distribution and Sustainability, School of Food Science and the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds – Transforming urban food deliveries for net-zero cities
  • Ian Wright CBE, Chief Executive, Food and Drink Federation – The challenges facing the food and drink industry in a changing world
  • Dr Chris West, Senior Lecturer, School of Biology, University of York – The UK’s role in the sustainability and resilience of global agri-commodity supply chains
  • Alan Hayes, Head of Technical Programmes, Institute of Grocery Distribution – Bringing a systems perspective to navigating food and drink challenges

Didn’t catch the webinar? Here’s the recording…

Find out more…

Policy impact

Lorry surrounded by fields

The COVID-19 pandemic and international trade report

Prof Bob Doherty, University of York, and Prof Fiona Smith, University of Leeds, gave evidence to the House of Commons International Trade Committee, which informed this report.

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Supermarket aisle

COVID-19 and food supply report

N8 AgriFood academics contributed expert opinions on food poverty and disrupted cross-border food supply chains during lockdown for this report from the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

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National Food Strategy part one

National Food Strategy – Part One

Prof Bob Doherty, Food Systems Policy Hub Director, shared his expert advice at the first National Food Strategy citizen engagement event, which fed into part one of the strategy. It’s the first major review of our food system in 75 years.

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Food crates in warehouse

POSTnote research briefing – A resilient UK food system

Through collaboration with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) we placed Joe Llanos, a fourth year PhD student at the University of Sheffield, in a 3 month internship at POST resulting in this food systems resilience POSTnote.

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Food parcels

Hungry for change: Fixing the failures in food report

N8 AgriFood academics from the Universities of Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and York provided their expertise for this report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment.

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Various healthy foods

The Future of Food: A recipe for sustainability report

Food Systems Policy Hub Director, Prof Bob Doherty, provided his expert opinion to help the Co-op explore their vision and strategy for a sustainable and ethical future. He was also one of the keynote speakers at the launch in September 2018.

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Research and policy briefs

Tomatoes growing on the vine

Vulnerability of the United Kingdom’s food supply chains exposed by COVID-19

This Nature Food article by Dr Philip Garnett, Prof Bob Doherty and Prof Tony Heron, University of York, explores how building redundancy and diversity in the food system is essential for the COVID-19 recovery.

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Stocked shelves in a food bank

How COVID-19 has exposed inequalities in the UK food system: The case of UK food and poverty

This paper is part of the N8 AgriFood Collection for Emerald Open Research, written by Dr Madeleine Power, Prof Bob Doherty, Dr Katie Pybus and Prof Kate Pickett, University of York.

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Group of people listening to a talk

Citizen participation in food systems policy making: A case study of a citizens’ assembly 

This paper is part of the N8 AgriFood Collection for Emerald Open Research, by various academics at the University of York working in conjunction with Defra.

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Apples in crate by lorry

Food systems resilience: Towards an interdisciplinary research agenda

This paper is part of the N8 AgriFood Collection for Emerald Open Research, by Prof Bob Doherty, Dr Jonathan Ensor, Prof Tony Heron and Dr Patricia Prado, University of York.

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People at an event

York Citizen Food Assembly

This policy brief provides an insight into the York Citizen Food Assembly, which brought together people who reflect the wider population in York to consider the challenges and opportunities facing the local food system.

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Topsoil in the shape of the UK map

Key challenges for AgriFood supply chains post-Brexit

This Policy Insight document explores three of the main food supply challenges post-Brexit – the broadening role of private actors, longevity and waste.

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Blogs