Sustainable Places awarded Global Food Security grant
18 January 2019
Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy of Cardiff University’s Sustainable Places Research Institute has been awarded £645,000 for a two year research project in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, Newcastle University, Northumbria University and Scotland Rural College.
“T-GRAINS: Transforming and Growing Relationships within regional food systems for Improved Nutrition and Sustainability” will explore whether a regional-based UK food system can provide healthy and sustainable diets, and if resilience in the system can be achieved through strengthening social capital among food system stakeholders.
As part of the research, the team will also assess the impact that directly connecting consumers to producers can have on household food culture to achieve healthy diets and more sustainable food production.
The project is funded by the Global Food Security programme, which is funding a further £1.8 million of interdisciplinary research to increase resilience of the UK food system.
This is the final phase of the £15 million programme. A broad range of challenges are being addressed, covering such diverse topics as livestock and dairy production, the role of phosphorus, water risks to the UK’s fresh fruit and vegetable supply and gaining a better understanding of consumer beliefs, values and choices.
‘Resilience of the UK Food System in a Global Context’ is driven by the UK’s Global Food Security programme, with funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Scottish government.