Experts from across the globe came to the University of York’s School for Business and Society this month to discuss the challenges of providing the world with a sustainable, secure supply of safe, nutritious, and affordable food using less land and in the context of global climate change and declining natural resources.
With the cost-of-living crisis squeezing people’s purchasing power, the ongoing war in Ukraine causing global shortages of grain, and climate change bringing about the hottest day and month on record, the question of how we provide a steady supply of food to the world’s 8 billion people while reducing the impact we have on the planet is one that now, more than ever, we need answers to.
The STFC Food Network+ (SFN+), based at the University of York’s School for Business and Society, hosted its 5th Annual Conference on 3 – 4 July 2023 in York, UK. Themed "Innovations for Smart, Sustainable, and Safe Food Systems", the two-day international conference hosted over 130 participants, including leading interdisciplinary researchers working on agriculture, supply chains, consumer behaviour, physics, data science or technology, industry experts, and policymakers in global food systems.
Established in 2017, the SFN+ has funded and supported over 100 interdisciplinary research projects to address key challenges of food security and sustainability in the UK and beyond. This international conference served as an occasion to showcase the success of some of the projects aimed at addressing pressing food challenges across the world.
Several notable keynote speakers presented their work on key food challenges. Selvarani Elahi, a UK government scientist with over 25 years’ experience in the analysis of food and agriculture samples working across a variety of policy areas, gave an insightful keynote that shed light on the UK's official food control system. Professor Pius Coxwell Achanga, Vice Chancellor of the Mountains of the Moon University in Uganda, spoke about alternative approaches to agroecology that are currently underway in Uganda. Professor Ian Noble, who leads the scientific research, analytical and sustainability agendas globally for Mondelez International, one of the world’s largest snacks companies, spoke about how we should be aspiring towards net zero for food and drink.
Professor Charlie Jeffery, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of York, said at the opening of the conference: “This year we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the University of York’s founding, which is an opportunity to reflect on and renew our founding principles. We were established to carry out research that would contribute ‘to the amelioration of human life and conditions’; and we had an internationalist commitment from the outset, believing that we would have more impact on human life and conditions more quickly if we learn with and from others, collaborating across different national and cultural contexts. We summarise this in the phrase: the University of York exists for public good.”
“The interdisciplinary work in SFN+ on food systems, physics, data science and technology, working with farming communities, industry experts, and policymakers, seems to me to be essential for global public good. It aligns so well with our university’s mission to produce inspirational and life-changing research with global impact.”
