This post is by Dr Qian Yang, Assistant Professor in Sensory and Consumer Science and Hannah Ford, PhD student in Sensory and Consumer Science.

Consumers are influential in determining the success of new products and future food trends. As the market for sustainable food continues to expand, there is a need to understand how consumers’ consumption habits and perceptions are changing. Are consumers consciously moving away from animal derived products? How will protein alternatives support dietary transitions? Young adults’ food choices are of particular interest, as they arguably shape the future of food.

We recently  published a new study aimed to shed light on these topics by reviewing young meat-eaters current consumption (i.e., meat reduction, adoption of plant-based meat/seafood) as well as perceptions towards novel future protein alternatives (i.e., cell-based meat/seafood and precision fermented dairy).

Through a series of focus groups, this study found a general trend towards meat reduction, an awareness of the link between food and climate change and an optimistic view on new food technologies playing a supportive role in future protein transitions. New-found self-sufficiency gained from moving away from home, alongside limited food budgets and the influence of others created changes in consumption, which signifies the importance of this transitional life stage on the formation of new behaviours. However, barriers identified a lack of information on quantifying the environmental impact of food, which led to uncertainty around how best to make sustainable food choices. This knowledge gap was especially apparent for dairy and seafood compared to meat. To some extent this was reflected in the acceptance of plant-based products, in which consumers had increased consumption of plant-based meat but had little experience or interest in trying plant-based seafood.

Some key enablers and barriers towards consumer acceptance for the different alternatives were highlighted:

• Enablers for plant-based meat/ seafood included convenience, positive sensory experiences and the influence of others, whilst barriers were related to negative health connotations and over-processing.
• Enablers for cell-based meat/ seafood and precision fermented dairy included animal welfare, curiosity and optimised nutrition, whilst barriers related to wider consumer acceptance, affordability and unnaturalness.

This research suggests opportunities for intervention strategies aiming to encourage more sustainable food consumption habits amongst young meat-eaters. Notably, public awareness around the environmental impact of food should be emphasised.

To find out more, the paper can be accessed here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566632302487X

Ford, H., Gould, J., Danner, L., Bastian, S.E.P., & Yang, Q. (2023). “I guess it’s quite trendy”: A qualitative insight into young meat-eaters’ sustainable food consumption habits and perceptions towards current and future protein alternatives. Appetite. 190, 107025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.107025

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This post is by Professor Paul Dyer, Professor of Fungal Biology at the University of Nottingham.

Our food system feeds 8 billion people each day, but this comes at ever increasing environmental costs in terms of land, water, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss. With the rising global population and soaring demand for protein, there is a clear need for complementary sources of proteins other than meat. Various alternative (‘alt.’) sources have been suggested such as plant-based foodstuffs, so-called ‘single-cell’ proteins from microorganisms grown in fermenters, cultivated meat grown from cells, and even insects. Here, we argue for the benefits of microorganisms for production of alt. proteins, and consider some challenges and future perspectives.

There are several established systems for the production of alternative proteins via growth of microorganisms, particularly fungi. This can involve growth and harvest of the whole fungal mycelium to produce ‘mycoprotein’, such as in production of Quorn, a meat substitute sold globally. In parallel, fungi can be used to ferment substrates to convert them into more nutritionally rich products (e.g. protein content and flavour), such as the use of Tempeh production in Asian countries. It can be argued that the fungal kingdom (both filamentous fungi and yeasts) is an ideal target for alt. protein production based on their characteristics. For one, there is an established track record of successful and commercial protein production from fungi (e.g. Quorn and Pekilo) and protein-rich foodstuffs (e.g. Tempeh). Fungi can also be cultivated relatively easily, and many species are suited to growth in fermenters using local worldwide feedstocks. In addition to that, many species show highly efficient substrate conversion to protein, with a high protein product with other benefits such as dietary roughage. Finally, novel and improved fungal strains can be generated relatively rapidly using classical and gene editing approaches, with many protocols described.

However, there are challenges. The overall protein content of such fungal foods is lower than found in meat. There are also production obstacles, such as the need to use highly-purified and costly growth materials to avoid the induction of mycotoxins, and the problem of evolution of branching mutants in long-term fermentations disrupting the fibre-like structure. In addition, enzyme activity of production strains may not be suitable for utilisation of certain substrates.

But there are promising future prospects. There are already conventional techniques to allow strain improvement of current fungal sources so that they can become more commercially viable and of even greater nutritional value. In parallel the fungal kingdom is estimated to contain over 2 million species, of which we have only looked at a very small fraction. Therefore there is great untapped potential for the ‘next generation’ of fungal mycoprotein species. Finally, recent advances in techniques such as gene editing, high-throughput screening, AI and machine learning offer the opportunity to gain important research insights and provide exciting opportunities for even better use of fungi as protein sources in the future. This is essential as microbially derived proteins are much more environmentally sustainable than animal-derived proteins and offer a long-term solution for growing populations worldwide.

Further reading/listening:

Szepe KJ, Dyer PS, Johnson RI, Salter AM, Avery SV (2021). Influence of environmental and genetic factors on food protein quality: current knowledge and future directions. Current Opinion in Food Science 40: 94-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2021.02.005

Lymbery P (2015). Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat. Bloomsbury, UK.

Podcast on Fermented Foods: https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/quorn-fermented-filamentous-fungi-we-can-eat

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This post is by Professor Ian Fisk, Professor of Flavour Science at the University of Nottingham.

When we are asked to think of the flavour of meat, we might come up with its characteristic aroma during cooking. However, the overall flavour that we perceive is very complex and is a mix of multiple sensory attributes; its aroma (e.g. roasted smell), its taste (e.g. savoury) in addition to its texture (juiciness, chewiness) and a range of other external factors. These ultimately interact to produce the flavour of meat that many of us learn to enjoy.

But to keep enjoying meat as a protein source, we need to think of other sustainable ways to cater to the larger global population.

Replicating the complex mix of stimuli in a non-meat (i.e. alternative protein) system is very challenging and whilst significant developments have been made, the flavours of many alternative protein products that aim to replicate meat simply don’t achieve this ambitious goal. Consequently, many consumers experience a flavour gap, this disparity between their expectation of the flavour of meat and the flavour of the alternative protein products they buy leads to reduced consumer liking and a direct impact on repeat purchase.

In the production of meat analogues containing alternative proteins, flavours are typically generated through either the direct addition of flavour-active ingredients, (e.g. encapsulated flavour systems or precision fermented lipids) or through the addition of a range of food extracts that when heated together generate a flavour that is similar to cooked meat. However, due to the large number and high cost of potential precursors and the complexity of thermal flavour generation reactions that occur during cooking, the resultant flavours for many products are simply not the same as meat.

Our work is aimed at developing flavour systems for alternative protein food products that meet consumers expectations of taste and flavour. We achieve this through advanced analytical insights, new approaches to flavour development and advances in food processing techniques.

Professor Ian Fisk leads The International Flavour Research Centre (IFRC), with a range of extensive flavour chemistry characterisation tools located in two top 100 Universities (the University of Nottingham and the University of Adelaide). He works to understand, control, and optimise flavour generation reactions and to stabilise and deliver unique high-quality meat flavours for alternative protein systems and complement these tools with advanced statistical (AI/ML) approaches to design future meat flavours that aim to surpass consumer preference of meat products.

At the University of Nottingham, we are pioneers and leaders in the field of flavour generation and release kinetics. We believe that this unique approach will underpin the success of future flavour systems for alternative proteins. Future flavour solutions are likely to move towards more natural flavour ingredients developed using precision tools whilst embracing new and advanced food processing approaches. Through our close alliance with some of the largest plant based / alternative protein companies, we are already leading the way in bridging this gap to ensure the best possible consumer experience.

Professor Ian Fisk (IFRC-Director) and Mui Lim (IFRC- Senior Technician) demonstrate real-time flavour evaluation of alternative proteins during consumption within the International Flavour Research Centre.

To find out more about the international Flavour Research Centre you may follow this link: http://nott.ac/flavour

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This blog is by Professor Festo Massawe the University of Nottingham Malaysia.

The global plant-based proteins market is estimated to reach $162 billion by 2030 (Bloomberg Intelligence, 2021). North America and Europe are the largest markets, with the Asia-Pacific region set to be the fastest growing plant-based protein market in the coming years. The current data on plant-based proteins market largely represent trends in developed countries and not developing countries across the globe, which are at different stages of the nutrition transition.

In developed countries, consumers are opting to move to plant-based proteins for health, environmental and ethical reasons, supported by innovation, advances in isolation and processing technologies and a growing awareness and availability of plant-based proteins. In low-income countries especially those currently transitioning to middle and higher income, people aspire to move away from plant-based diets towards meat diets for socio-economic and cultural reasons. To some of these populations, meat consumption symbolises wealth which can be explained by the high costs of meat.

Yet, these countries still experience the highest protein deficiency in the world and proteins from all sources are needed to fill the gap. Although plant proteins remain the more affordable and accessible high quality plant protein sources, processing technologies to create and maximise value are limited. By large, people get their daily protein needs from crops such as maize, wheat, and rice, which are part of the global food system but not tailored towards protein.

Overall, there is a large market opportunity for plant-based proteins globally. To fully capitalise on this opportunity and to ensure high-quality proteins are available, accessible, and affordable for everyone, we need to address challenges around scalability and the diversity of primary raw materials. Scaling beyond the current dominant markets to capture new markets will require a deeper understanding of global protein needs and food system challenges, especially in populations already reliant on plant-based diets for most of their calories and yet these same populations experience the highest protein deficiency in the world.

“Inclusion of unexploited novel high protein crops in the protein transition could foster a more equitable and sustainable future and make a mix of good quality protein accessible for everyone.”

The transition to plant-based proteins must address not only the nutritional aspect but also the social, economic, and environmental challenges facing the current food system. Some of these challenges can be addressed through research for development and promotion of underutilised plants to make a wider variety of crop plants available for use in food innovations. We currently rely on only a few plant species (soybean, pea and wheat) for most of our current plant-based protein innovations, leaving behind a treasure trove of protein rich crops such as Bambara groundnut (a drought tolerant crop) and winged bean (a high protein crop popularly known as a “supermarket on a stalk” or “one species supermarket”), just to name a couple.

Our research has shown that these species are not only rich in good quality protein but also locally available and adaptable to local conditions – good for people and the planet. Increasing the production and consumption of these novel high protein crops will require significant changes in our current global food system including encouraging local production of adaptable crops and processing of plant-based protein sources to create employment opportunities and support local economies. These changes will require concerted efforts and the support and collaboration of many stakeholders including policymakers and industry to strengthen local food systems.

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This post is by Jack Bobo, the Nottingham International Centre for Alternative Proteins lead and Director, Food Systems Institute.

As our global population continues to grow, so does the demand for food. Agriculture is facing unprecedented challenges, from climate change and resource scarcity to land degradation and biodiversity loss. To meet these challenges, we must explore innovative solutions, and alternative proteins are emerging as a promising avenue to transform our food systems.

The Global Agriculture Challenge

1. Land Use and Biodiversity: Expanding agriculture has led to deforestation and habitat destruction, endangering countless species.
2. Climate Change and Agriculture: Climate change poses a severe threat to agriculture, causing extreme weather events, altering precipitation patterns, and disrupting ecosystems. These changes can lead to crop failures and reduced yields.
3. Resource Scarcity: Water scarcity and soil degradation are increasingly critical issues in global agriculture.
4. Feeding a Growing Population: As if these challenges are not enough, with the global population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the pressure on agriculture to produce more food is immense. Expanding traditional animal farming is not an option, as it would require vast amounts of land, water, and feed, dramatically increasing greenhouse gas emissions and driving further deforestation and biodiversity loss.

The Role of Alternative Proteins

1. Diverse Food Options: Alternative proteins enable the creation of a diverse range of products that mimic the taste and texture of traditional meats. This allows consumers to make sustainable food choices without sacrificing their culinary preferences.
2. Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Livestock farming is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane. By promoting alternative proteins to meet future demand, we can significantly lower the impact of production.
3. Innovative Solutions: Plant-based proteins are already widely available, but continue to evolve to meet consumer requirements for taste, nutrition, quality and price. The products of precision fermentation are becoming more established in the market, while newer technologies, such as cultivated meat grown from animal cells, are just beginning to reach consumers.
4. Resource Efficiency: Plant-based proteins, such as soy, peas, and lentils, are excellent alternatives to traditional livestock farming. They require less land, water, and energy to produce, making them environmentally sustainable options to meet future protein demand.
5. Investment in Research: The University of Nottingham plays a crucial role in advancing alternative protein technologies. Scientists contribute to research on improving production methods, reducing costs, and enhancing nutritional profiles, planting the seeds of sustainable protein sources for future generations.

Challenges and Future Prospects

While alternative proteins hold great promise, they face their own set of challenges, including sensory expectations, regulatory hurdles, public perception, and cost barriers. However, with continued research, innovation, and collaboration, these challenges can be overcome.

In conclusion, the global challenges of agriculture are pressing concerns that require immediate attention. Alternative proteins offer a sustainable and efficient solution to many of these challenges. As research universities lead the way in developing and refining these technologies, we can look forward to a future where our food systems are not only more resilient but also more environmentally friendly. By embracing alternative proteins, we can nourish the growing global population while safeguarding our planet for generations to come. It’s time to take this innovative leap towards a more sustainable and food-secure world.

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Prof Andy Salter, Future Food Beacon Director 2022-2023

In 2017 the University of Nottingham launched its six ‘Beacons of Excellence’, including the Future Food Beacon. This represented a very different approach by the University to research funding, which directed its own money toward areas in which we already had considerable expertise, and that could be expanded to become globally recognised as a world–leading. Nottingham already had over a century of experience of food-related research which, of course, included the Sutton Bonington Campus, with facilities in crop and livestock production, food science and technology and, more recently, human nutrition and dietetics. The Beacon aimed to draw upon this, and upon expertise from across our other national and international campuses, with the following mission:
‘To deliver world class research to help address the challenge of providing sufficient quantities of nutritious and palatable food to a growing world population within a changing environment. This will be achieved through coupling the power of genome-enabled plant and animal sciences with cutting edge nutritional sciences, food processing and manufacturing technologies, and informed by an understanding of the economic, legal, social and ethical issues that underpin and shape food systems.’
Little did we know of the challenges our food systems were about face when, first Covid 19, and then the Ukraine war, highlighted their fragility. With atmospheric temperatures continuing to rise, malnutrition increasing amongst low-income communities, and obesity and type 2 diabetes continuing to impact higher-income groups, there is clearly much work still to be done. However, science was never going to solve these problems alone. Food systems are as much about commerce, politics, culture and consumer choice as they are about scientific innovation. Understandably, when disaster strikes, national, rather than international concerns come to the fore. However, with global temperature rises now predicted to further increase by 1.5oC before 2030, the need for innovative interventions in food production are becoming even more urgent.
The Beacon met many of its targets in terms of research income generation and research output, and enhanced the University’s global reputation in food research. The capital invested dramatically increased our infrastructure, both in terms of people and facilities. The University now has eleven new academic members of staff working across different areas of food research. Twenty two PhD students will complete their studies this year with a further eleven finishing next year. I hope that their work with the Beacon has helped to prepare them for careers that will help tackle the crisis our food systems continue to face.
Facilities in genomics, phenomics and nutritional analysis have been upgraded with state of the art technology. A purpose built ancient DNA laboratory has been created on the Sutton Bonington Campus. A strong community working right across the food system arena been created. It is now down to the Food Systems Institute and its new Director, Jack Bobo, to build on these achievements and, by working with national and international partners in academia, industry and policy, help to translate them into practical solutions to the many problems we face. I will leave Jack to present his vision of how the Institute will work and its ambitions, but achieving these will require strong partnership working both within the University and with external colleagues.
As someone who engaged with the Future Food Beacon from its onset, I can honestly say that it reinvigorated my enthusiasm for research which, perhaps inevitably, was starting to wane after a little over thirty years at the University. I very much hope the Food Systems Institute can have the same impact on colleagues who strive to deliver on the administrative, teaching and research tasks associated with academic life.
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the work of the Beacon in the last five years, including Simon Ridgway (finance) and Lexi Earl (communications) who have now moved on. Particular thanks go to Elizabeth Frissell, Gigi Walker and Joanna Smuga-Lumatz for their excellent administrative support, and to Pete Noy who has done a remarkable job of seeing so many research applications over the line. In addition, Pete has built strong links with the local community and the food industry which have helped to translate some of our research into real-world solutions.

The Future Food Beacon Support Team. Left to right – Pete Noy, Joanna Smug-Lumatz, Lexi Earl, Simon Ridgway.

Finally, of course, I should acknowledge the insight of Tim Foster and David Salt who started the whole thing off, with originally competing bids, which finally became the Future Food Beacon. I wish the best of luck to everyone involved in the Food Systems Institute and let’s hope the world can start to draw upon the technical innovations that science will produce, and find real life solutions to the problems that our food systems face.

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In 2017, the University of Nottingham launched the Future Food Beacon to help address the challenge of sustainably and nutritiously feeding a growing world population. After six years laying the research foundation and building partnerships and a research pipeline, the University is launching the University of Nottingham Food Systems Institute to take an interdisciplinary approach to these challenges and to expand the scope, scale and, most importantly, impact of the research.

The establishment of this new Institute comes at a critical moment. The UK’s National Food Strategy notes, “The food system we have today is both a miracle and a disaster.” Food production has outstripped a growing global population, dramatically reducing global hunger over the last century. However, that bounty has also come with a cost, contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss as well as rising rates of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases.

Future outlook

The problems are poised to get worse without a course correction. Over the next 30 years, growing demand for food—and particularly animal protein—will place enormous pressure on natural resources that have already been pushed, in many places, beyond breaking point. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are running dry and fish stocks are at risk of collapse. The strain to produce crops and to sell food at affordable levels will impact the planet and the world’s rich and poor alike. The last few years have made that challenge abundantly clear.

There are no simple solutions to these problems, only tradeoffs. The food system is wildly complex and needs a more holistic and coordinated approach to solutions. The challenges related to food security and nutrition are further complicated by disputed solutions that go beyond specific fields, divisions, and institutions. In today’s globalized food systems, these challenges arise from interactions at various scales and levels. Addressing them requires integrated actions from all stakeholders at local, national, regional, and global levels. This involves both public and private actors working together across multiple areas, such as agriculture, trade, policy, health, environment, gender norms, education, transport and infrastructure. Instead of conflicting with one another, it is necessary to merge ideas from different perspectives in a synergistic manner.

Achieving these goals in the coming decades will require significant changes to how we produce and consume food. Critical shifts include halting agriculture-led deforestation, sustainably increasing crop yields and meat productivity, changing farm practices and technologies, dramatically reducing food loss and waste, and shifting global protein consumption patterns. No community, business, non-governmental organization or government can achieve the transformation needed to stop, and ultimately reverse, these trends alone. We must work together to produce and consume food more wisely.

As the National Food Strategy points out, “Transforming the food system will require change at all levels: structural, cultural, local and individual.” The University of Nottingham’s Food Systems Institute is well positioned to take on this challenge. The University of Nottingham, along with its global campuses,  conducts a diverse range of food-related research with facilities in crop and livestock production, food science and technology, human nutrition and dietetics, as well as relevant research in business, policy and the social sciences related to consumer behaviour.

Personal perspective

I am excited, and humbled, to have been selected as the founding Director of the University of Nottingham’s Food Systems Institute. The Institute will serve as a hub for collaboration, bringing together experts, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. Through interdisciplinary research, policy advocacy and community engagement, we will drive transformative change in the global food system.

Our Institute will also prioritize the integration of education and outreach programs. By equipping future generations of leaders with knowledge and skills in sustainable food production and consumption, we can empower them to become agents of positive change to create the food system envisioned by the National Food Strategy that

1) makes us well instead of sick,

2) is resilient enough to withstand global shocks,

3) helps to restore nature and halt climate change so that we hand on a healthier planet to our children, and

4) meets the standards that the public expect on health, environment and animal welfare.

This approach will ensure a lasting impact and a more sustainable food future for all. The food system of the future must meet these goals.

As we embark on this exciting journey, we invite individuals and organizations alike to join us in this crucial mission. Together, we can revolutionize the way we think about food, nurture the planet, and ensure that no one goes hungry.

The University of Nottingham’s Food Systems Institute is ready to lead the charge towards a future where sustainable food production feeds the world, preserves our natural resources, and protects the delicate balance of our planet. Stay tuned for updates, research breakthroughs, and opportunities to get involved as we work towards this vital cause.

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I recently read a remarkable book called Victorians and Numbers (Goldman, 2022). This tells the story of how a diverse set of academics, campaigners and politicians in Victorian Britain were enthused by the idea of collecting, analysing and visualising data to identify social problems and injustices and to support policies to address them.  Parallel movements in the rest of Europe, led by important figures such as Quetelet from France, were developing similar ideas, and this culminated in a meeting of the International Statistical Congress in London in 1860.  This international statistical movement failed for a number of reasons.  Their plans to agree standardised formats and units for key variables to be used internationally came to grief on the shoals of stubborn national pride.  Furthermore, they had not really given sufficient thought to the question of how inference from numbers would really answer scientific questions in a meaningful and robust way.  That was to require further conceptual development.  However, this first wave of the statistical movement left important legacies, not least the enthusiasm of one of its key figures, Charles Babbage, for the idea of automated computation.  Another legacy was the word statistics itself, originating in the idea that data are information primarily of importance for the efficient operation of the state.

Statistical methods and computation have been fundamental to the MAPS project and the GeoNutrition project which preceeded it.  The scientists involved in these projects are committed to the idea that quantitative information from experiments and surveys is key to the implementation of effective interventions to address micronutrient deficiencies.  Statistical design and modelling have allowed robust spatial maps to be made from data on micronutrient concentrations in soil, crops and human biomarkers, with quantification of uncertainty.

Figure 1 Grain Zn concentration in maize grain across Malawi. (a) Empirical Best Linear Unbiased Predictions and (b) the prediction error variance. This figure is reproduced from Botoman, Chagumaira et al (2022) under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Statistical analysis allows meaningful results to be obtained from experiments in which the replicates are distributed between farms across complex landscapes, with repeated measurements in successive seasons. Statistical training has therefore been part of both projects from the beginning, drawing on experience and material developed in the CEPHaS project on conservation agriculture practice. Training delivered by MAPS project staff to project researchers has also benefited researchers from partner organisations in Africa and Asia.

In February and March 2023, I took this training programme a stage further when I delivered a four-week training programme to post-graduate students at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). UZ has embraced modular teaching across its courses, and post-graduates in the Faculty of Agriculture take a module on Advanced Research Methods. This year this included a set of 15 lectures and practicals on statistical methods.

The training put strong emphasis on design, both for experiments and surveys. This was deliberate. Many things can go wrong in science, but the best way to ensure efficient use of resources and robust outcomes is by a sound design which maps onto an analysis which will directly address the question of interest. As well as the basics of design, we addressed some advanced methods required in research, such as incomplete block designs, and the design of sample surveys.

In addition, the course was based on the R platform, which also underpins the MAPS project (R Core Team, 2023). R is an open-source platform. It facilitates collaboration, and reproducible research in which researchers can share their code, allowing readers to explore published work in depth and to take up methods for their own research. Furthermore, R is widely used by statisticians, so new methods are generally accessible to R users long before they are taken up by other statistical software. Most participants in the training had not used R before, but by the end all were able to use it to read, explore and plot data and to undertake a range of analyses.

Class quiz on basic statistical concepts: from degrees of freedom to randomisation.

Feedback on the training was positive, and participants performed well in assessments.  Of course, the proof of the training comes down the line when the principles of design and analysis are applied in research on the ground.

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I’d like to share a story of how my love for Agricultural Sciences developed. I was about 12 years old when I accompanied my parents to our family farm to harvest maize. As we were harvesting, I noticed a number of cobs that were affected by maize Smuts. I did not know the name maize Smuts then, but I observed that it resulted in crop losses. My immediate thought was to understand how this came about, and to find a solution to stop it. After high school, I enrolled for a Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, and later a Master’s degree in Plant Breeding. After completing my Master’s degree, I joined the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT-Malawi) as a Scientific Officer. Through my work and my interaction with my line manager, I was motivated to pursue a PhD to become an expert in my field so I can contribute more to crop improvement and grow my professional network. In 2018, I was privileged to receive a University of Nottingham (UoN)-Rothamsted Research (RRes) Future Food Beacon Studentship Award on their International Agriculture Doctoral Training Programme. I started my PhD in January 2019 with the Nottingham-BBSRC Wheat Research Centre (WRC) and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) under the supervision of Julie King (UoN), Martin Broadley (UoN/RRes), Malcolm Hawkesford (RRes), and Moses Maliro and James Bokosi (LUANAR).

From left to right: Malcolm Hawkesford (Rothamsted supervisor), Philippa Borill ( external examiner- John Innes Centre), Veronica Guwela and Julie King (UoN supervisor)

My PhD research title was; High zinc wheat for sub-Saharan Africa, and it focused on identifying novel sources for increased grain Zn and Fe concentration from wheat wild relatives, and transfer these to African varieties. From the very beginning of my PhD, I was very excited to work on a research topic with potential to address a challenge (micronutrient deficiencies) that I was passionate about. Again, beyond the conventional plant breeding, which I was familiar with, I was excited to learn molecular techniques in plant breeding, such as KASP genotyping and Genomic In-situ hybridisation. I was also looking forward to work with wheat wild relatives, do some field phenotyping and mineral analysis of soil and grain samples. Thus, the interdisciplinary nature of my PhD made it both exciting and challenging.

Veronica at UoN SB glass house

I enjoyed my PhD journey because of the massive support I received from my supervisors, the WRC team and all technical staff in the three institutions that supported me in my practical work. During my PhD, I was able to publish one review article, and co-author one WRC group paper. I have also been able to draft other manuscripts, which will be submitted for publication in due course. I have had three major highlights of my PhD journey; the first was winning the 2023 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Early Career Award by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The second was an invitation to give a plenary talk on quality and nutrition at the 2022 Monogram Conference, and the last was winning the gold award for the first year Plant Sciences oral presentations during the 2019 UoN School of Biosciences symposium. Away from the Science, I was also working with the University as a resident tutor/resident assistance in the university halls. I enjoyed interacting with, and supporting the welfare of campus residents. Occasionally I also volunteered with Friends International, an organisation for sharing international student experiences in the UK.

Veronica and Julie King standing next to 2023 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Early Career Award poster

The most difficult part of the PhD was the covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. Due to the covid 19 restrictions, I was not able to work in the lab or glasshouse for over 3 months during the first lockdown. I was also not allowed to travel to Malawi to do my field phenotyping, and this was very difficult. Through this difficult time, I learnt to be resilient as the backlog of the experiments and thesis writing was going to be done concurrently within the last two years of my PhD. I also had to adapt to the changes, by using the lockdown to learn some useful skills such as statistics and science writing. On the positive side again, I had frequent catch-up meetings with my supervisors during the lockdown and this really helped to keep my morale up.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience, networking opportunities, and I developed many skills that will be useful in my career.

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This post is written by Andrew Salter.

The Future Food Beacon was launched in 2017 with the aim of ‘working across the food system to explore ways to future proof food security’, with an ambitious strap line of ‘ A world with nutritious food for all’.  This was at a time of increasing recognition that at local, national and global levels, food systems were unsustainable and impacting on both human and planetary health.  At a national level, there was a clear recognition that our current food system was obesogenic and making a major contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.  As the Beacon reaches its end, and the University launches its new Food Systems Institute, it seems appropriate to consider how far the UK has moved towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

What is the current state of our food system and is it working?

The UK food system was estimated to produce 185 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019.  This represents approximately 35% of the UKs total greenhouse gas production, a quarter of this was directly attributable to UK agricultural production (46.25m tCO₂e), while almost a fifth was associated with overseas production of food we import (35.15m tCO2e).  The rest was distributed around a range of other activities including deforestation, food and drink manufacturing, transport, and associated activities and losses in retail and home environments.  The Health Survey for England, 2021 indicated that 69% of men and 59% of women in the UK were overweight or obese.   In the same year, Henry Dimbleby and his team produced the National Food Strategy ‘Plan’, a government-commissioned independent review into the food system. In his introduction he said, ‘The effects of climate change are already becoming apparent around the world. Diet-related disease is putting an intolerable strain on our nation’s health and finances – and COVID-19 has only increased the pressure. For our own health, and that of our planet, we must act now.’  In June 2022 the government published the Food Strategy policy paper in response to the Dimbleby report.  It concluded that the government’s ambitions and priorities were to, ‘create a more prosperous agri-food sector that delivers healthier, more home-grown and affordable diets for all, regardless of where people live or their income’.   While welcoming some of the initiatives, many were disappointed that it did not go far enough, with the Guardian headlining: ‘‘Worse than half-baked’: Johnson’s food strategy fails to tackle cost or climate’.  In the subsequent months, the Ukraine war, domestic political turmoil, and resulting economic crisis exposed the true fragility of the UK food system, with many being plunged into food poverty.  In recent weeks, shortages in fresh fruit and vegetables have exposed our dependency on food imports, and the potential impact that climate change may have on food availability.  In March 2023, Henry Dimbleby resigned his position as a government advisor, saying many of his policy recommendations had not been taken forward. In their report, Dimbleby and colleagues set out a range of recommendations based around:

1. Escape the junk food cycle and protect the NHS
2. Reduce diet-related inequality
3. Make the best use of our land
4. Create a long-term shift in our food culture

These were aimed to address the major issues facing the food system: climate change, biodiversity loss, land use, diet-related disease, health inequality, food security and trade. Dimbleby’s resignation reflects an increasing concern that the UK is losing its way in moving towards a more sustainable and healthy food system.

Climate change further threatens local and global food systems

On March 29^th 2023 the independent Climate Change Committee presented a report to parliament in which they stated they had, ‘found very limited evidence of the implementation of adaptation at the scale needed to fully prepare for climate risks facing the UK across cities, communities, infrastructure, economy and ecosystems’.  The report highlights the risks to both national and global food systems of failure to address climate change.  Thus, while it is perhaps inevitable that, at a time of economic crisis, we are focussed on problems close to home, and the food insecurity of our most vulnerable citizens, in the longer term it is vital that we return to addressing the impact of climate change on the global food system.  Recent years have seen catastrophic climate- related famines in several regions of Africa.  Finding sustainable solutions to addressing the problems facing such populations is essential to the future of the planet.  Equally, ensuring that global diets evolve to be healthier, and help avoid further increases in obesity, type 2 diabetes and related problems is vital in reducing pressure on healthcare systems.  While this represents a massive challenge to humanity, over the last century science has shown a remarkable ability to develop systems allowing the mass-production of affordable food. These have dramatically reduced malnutrition in many parts of the world, albeit it with insufficient regard to the impact on the environment or more chronic diet-related disease.  The same ingenuity must now be applied to the ethical and socially appropriate production of more healthy and sustainable foods, on what appears to be an inevitably warmer planet.  The University of Nottingham Food Systems Institute, representing expertise across the whole of the Food System, is uniquely placed to address these problems.

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