Food Research Collaboration

REDICLAIM project (Understanding the impact of legislation on "reduction of disease risk" claims on food and drinks) webinar
2017-04-06 14:00 - 17:00 UTC
In 2006, the European Regulation on nutrition and health claims on foods (Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR): European Commission No. 1924/2006) established, for the first time, a common framework for the regulation of such claims across the European Union (EU).
The opportunities for product innovation arising from this new legislation combined with protection of consumer interest in respect of controlling misleading advertising, while at the same time promoting public health, are noteworthy. But such opportunities needed to be evaluated against the burden on industry to undertake significant research activity into these claims and to present a scientific substantiation to satisfy the procedure for approval.
The EU-funded REDICLAIM project considered these issues in relation to ‘reduction of disease risk’ claims. As the project comes to an end, this webinar will present the project findings and give you the opportunity to ask questions of our expert speakers.
The session will include:

An introduction to the REDICLAIM project
Ensuring successful health claim applications
Health claims as promoters of new innovative food products?
The NHCR and issues with the regulatory framework
Modelling to predict the health and economic impact of ‘reduction in disease risk claims’

How to Join our webinar:

Please register for the REDICLAIM Webinar on Thursday the 6th of April 2017 at 2pm GMT/3pm CET at:http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/live/rediclaim/06thapril2017/
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

How to Join our mailing list:
Please sign up here to receive email updates about the publication of the REDICLAIM project recommendations and further papers, reports and presentations: http://eepurl.com/cGHCc1

Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone who you feel might be interested in the webinar.

1st International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Resource Use in Food Chains
2017-04-19 09:00 - 2017-04-21 15:00
RCUK National Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Food Chains (CSEF Centre) at Brunel University London, in collaboration with The University of Manchester and University of Birmingham annouce their 1st conference ‘ICSEF 2017’ to be held Wednesday 19 to Friday 21 April 2017

The aim of ICSEF 2017 is to bring together scientists and engineers working in the field of energy and resource use in food chains. ICSEF 2017 will report on the latest thinking, technologies and approaches for energy demand reduction and minimisation of resource use, including water and waste, across all stages of food chains from primary production to consumption and waste management.
Themes at ICSEF 2017 will include:

Energy and Resource Use in Agriculture/Food Production

Sustainable Food Processing

Distribution and Logistics

Consumption

Waste Management

For further information

Free Range Dairy Network Farm Event
2017-06-06 10:30 - 14:00
Farm Event with the Free Range Dairy Network
Meet the Free Range Dairy Network at the farm event which offers an opportunity to find out more about Pasture Promise Free Range Milk, as well as meeting the farmers and free range cows of Barhouse Farm. The session will consist of a tour around Barhouse Farm to meet the free range cows, followed by lunch and closing with a talk by guest speaker Yeshna Mistry from the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Attendance is free, however guests will need to make their own travel arrangements. To book a place or if you have any questions please contact Carol Lever via email at carol@freerangedairy.org

Land for What? network launch and planning meeting
2017-06-10 10:30 - 15:30
This meeting will bring together people who are enthusiastic about creating a network of groups and individuals who are working on land issues in the UK. We’ll share some ideas about how we think this network might work but we are also open to suggestions. The coalition who organised the conference will not be running this network – instead it will be a collaboration of the people who step forward at the meeting.
This event won’t be about hearing from speakers, it will be about the roles each of us can play in developing this network. We’re looking for people who want to take an active role in guiding and organising the development of Land for What (or whatever name it takes on).
To find out more and see the proposed agenda, check out the new eventbrite page. Please sign up if you want to get involved in organising the next part of this journey.
Hope to see you on the 10th!
You can also now see videos from the November conference on our youtube channel.

ACCESS TO LAND IN EUROPE: LEARNING FROM THE FIELD
2017-06-19 09:30 - 2017-06-21 12:30
Seminar 19th and 20th June and Conference 21st June – Brussels
Europeans need farmers to produce good food, feed our communities, foster rural development and take good care of our environment. But growing evidence from farmers, rural development organisations and experts shows that access to land is a significant obstacle for farmers in Europe, as well as being the primary obstacle to entering farming.
Meanwhile, social innovations are emerging throughout Europe to support farmers in securing land to enter farming or to consolidate their farm businesses. Over the past few years, organisations – coming together in the Access to land network – have mapped good practices and explored core issues related to access to land. These issues include how to open up land for new entrants, the role of local authorities, and available legal tools for land tenure and stewardship.
For two days, on 19-20 June, practitioners from across Europe will meet to share experience and analyses about issues and practical solutions to improve access to land for agroecological farmers.
In complement, on 21 June, a public conference will focus on drawing lessons and discussing policy levers with other civil society organisations, experts and policy-makers.
Please find the program here: www.accesstoland.eu/-Conference-
SEMINAR – ACCESS TO LAND IN EUROPE: LEARNING FROM THE FIELD
Date: 19th & 20th June 2017Venue: Chant d’Oiseau Training Centre, Avenue des Franciscains 3A, Brussels
During this seminar, top experts from all over Europe gather to share the results of their search for best practices that can overcome the obstacles to access to land.
We tailored the seminar for a wide panel of actors ranging from policy makers, members of an organisation who manage access to land, social entrepreneurs who wish to set up a new access to land initiative in their country, researchers or citizens interested in the subject.
CONFERENCE – SOLUTIONS AND POLICIES FOR ACCESS TO LAND IN EUROPE
Date: 21 June 2017Venue: L42, Rue de la Loi 42, 1000 Brussels
Access to land has been identified as the number one obstacle for the development of agroecological farming in Europe. However, solutions exist.
This conference reflects on the potential policy changes needed to improve conditions for access to land in Europe

Fifth BSA Food Study Group Conference: Food & Society 2017
2017-06-26 08:00 - 2017-06-27 17:00
**FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Less than 1 week left until deadline! **
https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/fifth-bsa-food-study-group-conference-food-society-2017/
Confirmed keynotes – see biographies below:
Corinna Hawkes, Professor of Food Policy, Director, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, UK A people-centred approach to the study of food: a policy perspective.
Anthony Winson, Professor of Sociology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada From Wide Angle to Zoom: Critical Perspectives with the Food Lens.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
— What is food? And how should we study it? —
Spanning the social sciences, humanities and beyond as well as public health and nutrition, food is established as a prominent topic of interest for research. It is also of significant relevance to those outside the academy, including governments, UN agencies, NGOs, community groups and the private sector, particularly in the light of recent political events. Growing numbers of scholars and students with an interest in food and food-related issues have contributed not only to the emergence and expansion of sub-disciplines dedicated to the study of food – e.g. the sociology of food, the anthropology of food, food history, food economics, the geography of food – but also to the effervescence of an inter-disciplinary ‘food studies’. In building this body of work, researchers within and across these disciplines and sub-disciplines also contribute important knowledge to policy-makers and practitioners.
However, ‘food’ may not mean the same thing to all those who study or seek to influence the practices and systems which produce, sustain and consume it. Depending on disciplinary frameworks, epistemologies and domains of practice, ‘food’ connotes different objects of study, requiring different framings and measurement. For some, ‘food’ is a material substance, or a source of nutrients and means of avoiding disease. For others, it is a commodity for economic exchange, or the basis of livelihoods, or the object of policy. For others still, ‘food’ is a language through which to express relationships, whether affinities or differences. These ‘false cognates’ may deceive us into thinking that we are addressing the same ‘thing’ when, in fact, we are not. Yet food remains central not only to global systems and local lives, but is a fascinating and challenging area of study precisely because it connects with so many other urgent issues; tracing these connections entails transgressing boundaries not only across different domains of human experience, but also across disciplines, requiring engagement with a range of theoretical paradigms and methodologies.
The conference thus poses the questions: what do we mean by ‘food’, how do we study it and to what end? Key themes are: How is ‘food’ conceptualised and operationalised within particular disciplinary and methodological frameworks? How is it understood in relation to its entanglement with other materials, meanings and practices? Should we ‘study up’ or ‘study down’? What are the implications of the ways in which food is defined for contributing to knowledge, practice and informing policy?
We seek to enrich our conversations about food and to transcend boundaries, as well as pause to consider what, exactly, we are talking about. Only then can we learn from each other how better to study ‘food’ and better inform policy and practice. To this end, we invite proposals for papers that not only present studies of food-related issues, but that reflect explicitly on how ‘food’ is delineated as an object of study and how particular theoretical frameworks and/or methods of analysis may be used to explore and understand its significance.
The committee intends to organise papers into thematic sessions that include presenters from different disciplines or sectors to facilitate and stimulate reflection and discussion about how and why issues in ‘food’ are conceived, studied and applied. Themes may include but are not limited to:
– Agriculture, trade and food retail
– Processing and food technologies – traditional and modern
– Food justice, labour and livelihoods
– Food and cultural heritage
– Consumption and social relations
– Methods for researching food and what should we study
– Risks and food safety
– Interventions and policies
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words for oral papers (lasting 20 minutes with 10 minutes to follow for questions) and for posters. As in previous years a prize will be awarded for the poster which delegates agree best communicates its aims, methods, findings and conclusions. Following the successful trial of a new format at the previous conference, and taking feedback into account, oral presentations may also include Pecha Kucha* style sessions and roundtable presentations. Please indicate your preferred format when you submit.
We also invite abstracts for symposia with a maximum of three connected papers, of relevance to the conference theme, to run in parallel with presented papers. We would be particularly interested to receive proposals which address methodological challenges in studying ‘food’. All proposals for symposia should be emailed to the BSA Events team events@britsoc.org.uk with subject ‘BSA Food Study Group Conference – Special Event’.
Special event submission deadline: 12 February 2017 and abstract submission deadline: 19 February 2017.
Submit your abstract at: https://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/abstract/eventAbstract.aspx?id=EVT10611
Please direct any academic enquiries to the Food Study Group co-convenors: Rebecca O’Connell: rebecca.oconnell@ucl.ac.uk, Hannah Lambie-Mumford: h.lambie-mumford@sheffield.ac.uk and Andrea Tonner: a.tonner@strath.ac.uk
For administrative issues please contact the BSA Events Team: events@britsoc.org.uk
*A 20-slide presentation in which each slide lasts 20 seconds
— Registration Rates —
BSA Member Registration: £120
Food Study Group Member Registration: £140 Non Member Registration: £180 Concessionary Member Registration: £100 Food Study Group Concessionary Member Registration: £120 Concessionary Non Member Registration: £140
If you/your organisation cannot afford to pay the conference fee, please, in addition to your abstract, submit a covering letter to Dr Elizabeth Hull (eh17@soas.ac.uk) explaining your circumstances and what you hope to both gain and contribute. There are a very limited number of subsidised places and letters will be considered by the committee on a case by case basis. Decisions will be communicated the week commencing 25th March. The decision of the committee is final.
Brief biographies of our 2017 keynote speakers:
Professor Corinna Hawkes
Professor Corinna Hawkes is Director of the Centre for Food Policy in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London and Co-Chair of the Global Nutrition Report, an international report tracking progress in malnutrition in all its forms across the globe. Her work is concerned with identifying effective food systems policies to improve diets around the world. She has published widely on the role of globalisation, trade, retailing, marketing, agriculture in diet and diet change and is now focused on making food policy more effective through a people-centred approach. Corinna has worked at the International Food Policy Institute, the World Health Organization, the University of Sao Paulo and the World Cancer Research Fund International, where she established the NOURISHING Policy Framework for healthy diets and obesity. She sits on the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems and the Lancet Obesity Commission.
Professor Anthony Winson
I am currently Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph, Guelph Canada. I have also taught at Western University and Saint Mary’s University. I have researched issues related to agriculture, food, agrarian development, politics and the state in the context of Canada, the United States and the Third World and my current focus is on the political economic determinants of diet and nutrition. I am the author of the following books: Coffee and Democracy in Modern Costa Rica (Macmillan, 1989); The Intimate Commodity: Food and the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex in Canada (Garamond Press and U. of Toronto Press, 1993); Contingent Work, Disrupted Lives: Labour and Community in the New Rural Economy, (U. of Toronto Press, 2002 with Belinda Leach which has won the John Porter book prize of the Canadian Sociology Association); and more recently The Industrial Diet: The Degradation of Food and the Struggle for Healthy Eating (UBC Press and New York University Press, 2013). I have co-edited (with Mustafa Koc and Jennifer Sumner) Critical Perspectives in Food Studies (Oxford University Press, 2012), the only interdisciplinary textbook in food studies in Canada. I have published numerous book chapters and refereed articles in Canadian, American, European and Latin American journals and have served for several years on the editorial boards of Agriculture and Human Values and Rural Sociology.

The 10th International Critical Management Studies (CMS) Conference – CMS 2017
2017-07-03 08:00 - 2017-07-05 17:00
Reorganising the neo-liberal food system: Evolution, Rebellion or Revolution?
Call for papers
Submissions to this conference stream should be a 500-word abstract which demonstrates how it addresses the topic of the research stream as indicated below illustrating a theoretical/empirical contribution to the topic. The word limit excludes references.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is January 31, 2017. Please submit the abstract by sending it to the lead convener by email. If you have queries regarding your submission please feel free to email the conveners.
The acceptance of abstracts will be communicated by February 27, 2017.
Click here for more information about the conference stream
Conveners:
Gillian Hopkinson (lead convener), Lancaster University g.hopkinson@lancaster.ac.uk
Dave Watson, University of East Anglia david.watson@uea.ac.uk
Isabelle Szmigin, University of Birmingham, I.T.SZMIGIN@bham.ac.uk

On one hand the neo-liberal food system can be considered highly efficient. This system of production and distribution has produced higher yields, and lower food prices in real terms, as well being highly profitable for organisations and, latterly, futures traders (Clapp, 2014). On the other hand, it has been criticised for a narrow view of what constitutes efficiency. The organisation of the food system around the primary goal of profit accumulation has also produced obesity alongside persistent undernourishment (Alexandratos & Bruinsma, 2012), and environmental degradation contributing to climate change (IAASTD, 2009). Meanwhile there is a concentration of wealth and power in a small number of trans-national agri-food corporations at the expense of individual producer and consumers (Halweil, 2002, p. 25). This state of affairs has given rise to counter tendencies, apparently expressing discontent and a desire to change the food system for the better (Allen, 2010).
Whilst few could disagree with this sentiment, the question of how to re-organise the food system in a ‘better’ way remains. The call for some sort of ‘food revolution’ to address contemporary problems in our food systems is not new, but it is contested. Specifically, proposals differ in terms of what is to be changed, who is to take action to bring the change about and whether this will be at the individual, civil or political level as well as the means through which that change will be achieved.
Prominent claims to revolution include The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which is backed by the Gates Foundation. This envisages increased farm productivity and livelihoods through a re-run of the technological farming solutions applied in the original green revolution. The need to boost productivity and ensure food security underpins the argument behind this approach, undermining claims of ‘greenness’ (Tomlinson, 2011). Opponents, however, point out that the world already produces more than enough food for its growing population and point to the need to revolutionise the political economy instead of technological innovation (HoltGiménez, Shattuck, Altieri, Herren, & Gliessman, 2012). Others are concerned with consumers’ dwindling knowledge of food production, nutrition and cookery (Meyer, Coveney, Henderson, Ward, & Taylor, 2012; Thompson & Coskuner‐Balli, 2007). Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution aims to equip people with the requisite knowledge to act as responsible consumers in food markets, taking an educational approach.
A plethora of so called alternative food movements have rebelled against the dominant food system. They reflect a multitude of issues of concern and modes of organisation. Gleaning and dumpster diving networks link up to those concerned with re-distributing food to address undernutrition and food waste. Alternative agriculture groups and famers markets reconnect producers and consumers, often promoting particular production standards of ethical production, such as organic. Meanwhile we are called on to act as individual citizens, to exercise our influence in the market by voting with each fork full. We are enabled to enact this change by a range of labelling and certification schemes designed to inform consumers. Armed with this information we are expected to make responsible buying choices and signal a desire for more accountable production thereby bringing about changes in the food system. Or so the argument goes.
Some ‘revolutions’ (e.g. Jamie Oliver) have been critiqued for lending support to the neo-liberal conceptualisation of the market. Other revolutions (e.g. Green Revolution for Africa) are critiqued because they favour the interests of particular commercial organisations. The actions of civil groups have been portrayed as more rebellious than revolutionary with limited potential to unsettle extant practice. The ability to vote through consumption tending to privilege the values and interests of the wealthy, without unsettling the dominant mode of production and consumption (Eden, Bear, & Walker, 2008, p. 1047). More fundamental re-organising of the food system through community-based food production can be understood as a quiet revolution in the way that it defies the standard market model (Boehm, Mizocsky, Watson & Lanka). Instead, it offers a ‘special emphasis on creating and building community around the interwoven issues of food, land and nature’. (Hinrichs, 2000, p.299) Approaches to change differ then. From those that are evolutionary offering no fundamental change to revolutions aiming to upturn the faith in markets and replace economic values with social and/or environmental values through other methods of organisation.
We welcome papers that critically examine our contemporary food system, the problems it generates and/or the range of initiatives that seek to address its current deficiencies. In particular we hope to explore questions about who might bring about change, the extent of change that might be brought about, the interests served by change and who is/should be responsible for change. In short, can and will deficiencies be addressed through continued evolution of industry, through the rebellious acts of individuals or civic society or might these amount to a full-blown revolution?
We welcome papers from any discipline that critically explores our food systems and the possibilities of change. We encourage contributors to engage with the food system at the political level, as well as the social, cultural and economic level. Contributors may consider any aspects of the food system and approaches to change and take a theoretical or empirical approach. Questions that might be addressed are not limited to but could include the following:

Critiques of current developments within the food system such as technological solutions, sustainable intensification, or the financialisation of commodities.
Case studies and practice-oriented discussions of approaches that challenge aspects of industrial agriculture, the global food system, the monopoly of supermarkets, etc. Contributions from practitioners welcome.
Alternative futures, the scale, limitations and social reach of forms of localism and biodynamic, craft, seasonal and cooperative production. To what extent do these alternatives disrupt and/or reproduce existing market relations and inequalities?
The role and identities of revolutionaries – who can lead change, how can they lead change, how do those engaged in alternative projects understand their role?
Industry responses to calls for change – how are acts of rebellion institutionalised, with what effect at to what end?
The values that underpin the dominant food system and how these might be challenged by ethical or moral understandings of food production and consumption practices?
What might a revolutionised food system look like? Are there other players that can help change the status quo?

Sustainable Food and Agriculture Workshop
2017-07-04 10:00 - 14:30
As part of the REACH (Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub) programme, the Department of Entrepreneurship and Local Economy at the University of Birmingham will be holding a workshop exploring the competing demands and perceptions of sustainability for the food industry. The workshop is part of a wider project to engage cross community debates on sustainability to include economic (sustainable livelihoods), social (minimises negative impact on wellbeing and environmental (minimises negative impact to the natural environment).
We have a range of speakers including Hilary Hammer from East Riding Local Food Network and a founder of the Sustainable Food City project in Hull, she is currently working on a project on innovation in the agrifood sector. Dr Adélia de Paula is the Sustainable Intensification Research Network (SIRN) Coordinator, a project funded by the UK Research Councils BBSRC and NERC and she will be talking about the concept of sustainable intensification. Sam Durham from the NFU will be speaking about the NFU and sustainability issues. Rachel Graham from Solagrow a consultancy services provider who designs solutions to create sustainable farming practices for small family farms will present a case study. Prof. Kiran Trehan will be talking about ways forward for research and how engaged research is critical in delivering impact for scholars and practice. We will also be asking participants for their thoughts and views on demands and perceptions of sustainability. This will be an interactive event where we hope to generate questions to inform future research.
This is a free event and will take place on Tuesday 4th July, registration from 10am for a 10.30am start and ends at 2.30pm. Lunch will be provided and is an opportunity for networking. This event is relevant for anyone interested in small (family) firms, sustainability, and food production. For further information or to reserve your place please email Jane at J.Glover@bham.ac.uk. Please confirm your attendance by Wednesday 28th June and please state any special dietary requirements.

Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference
2017-08-29 08:00 - 2017-09-01 17:00
The Annual International Conference 2017 is chaired by Sarah Radcliffe (University of Cambridge, UK).
Decolonising geographical knowledges: opening geography out to the world
The chair’s theme for the 2017 Annual Conference is Decolonizing geographical knowledges: opening geography out to the world. We welcome sessions and papers which engage directly with this theme, as well as others focusing on all areas of geography.
Decolonizing geographical knowledges aims to query implicitly universal claims to knowledges associated with the west, and further interrogate how such knowledges continue to marginalize and discount places, people and knowledges across the world. Debates around decolonizing geographical knowledges have become increasingly important during the past decade among teachers, activists and academics, and draw upon postcolonial, indigenous studies and other critical perspectives. The challenge is to re-think scholarly epistemic and institutional forms of knowledge production that privilege predominantly western over ‘southern’ knowledges and ways of seeing. Such debates in turn influence how geographers and geographical knowledge engage with schools, students, policy-makers and third sector organisations. The 2017 Annual Conference offers an opportunity to take these debates forward in the context of research on socio-natures, the Anthropocene, and multi-scalar inequalities but also, more widely, by demonstrating the power of decolonial geographical thinking to work relationally across disciplinary boundaries and to expand the scope of decolonial practice in research. The conference aims to encourage debate about these issues including potential contributions from decolonizing geographical knowledges to existing approaches and methodologies in human and physical geography.

Advanced Statistics for Nutrition Research workshop
2017-09-14 08:30 - 17:00
This one day Nutrition Society workshop will cover advanced statistical techniques such as modelling outcomes, understanding the difference between co-variates, selecting variables, handling missing data and dropouts. Introduction to conducting repeated measures of analysis and principal component analysis will also be included. Practical exercises using SPSS and Microsoft Excel will aid in-class learning; all materials will be made available in print and electronic form.
Who should attend?
The workshop is suitable for PhD students, postdocs, researchers and practicing nutrition professionals who completed Research Methods module, and who have prior knowledge of basic statistical concepts and data manipulation techniques used in nutrition research, including some experience using SPSS software.
Registration now open
Further details including how to register for a place can be found at https://www.nutritionsociety.org/events/advanced-statistics-nutrition-research

Introduction to Food Policy workshop
2017-10-31 09:30 - 15:30
Venue: Nutrition Society Offices, London, W6 7NJ CPD endorsement received from AfN and RSB Brief background about the workshop: This one-day workshop offers an overview of the policy cycle and the factors that organisations should consider when deciding the details of a policy. It explores what a policy is and what prompts a policy to be developed and reviewed. Group work and discussions using relevant case studies will enable attendees to understand the process and put in context for their needs.
Registration now open
Further details including how to register for a place can be found at https://www.nutritionsociety.org/events/introduction-food-policy-0
