Rachael Durrant a Research Fellow from SPRU, the University of Sussex joins the FRC for our Food Bites series and explores the current issues in the food system and what civil society organisations and academics could be doing to work towards solutions that address the issues within the food system.

Rachael is currently employed as a Research Fellow at SPRU, the University of Sussex, where she is analysing efforts to improve sustainability and developing new strategies to accelerate progress in European city-regions. Since 2012, Rachael has been building a professional network of food researchers, educators and activists known as the Brighton and Sussex Universities Food Network (BSUFN).

Rachael also works freelance within the UK food and agriculture sector as a consultant researcher and project manager. Her clientele have included the Centre for Food Policy (City University, London), Unilever plc’s Sustainable Agriculture team, Heineken NV, the Guardian Hay Festival, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Food Ethics Council, among others. In addition to her recent work, she has a portfolio of cross-sector sustainability-related project work.