ELTA SMITH
Food systems and food policy researcher and writer.
Recent Articles
I write about the future of food and the connections between our food systems, the environment and public health.
Justice First: A New Starting Point for Food Systems Change
Ask anyone working on food and farming what needs to be happening, and you’ll hear familiar answers: healthier and more accessible diets, resilient farms and…
What 2025 Made Clear About UK Food Security
“Our food system is damaging the very foundations of our food security.” When Paul Behrens delivered this assessment to over a thousand policymakers and business…
COP30 and the Politics of What We Eat
For decades, climate negotiations have treated food security as separate from emissions reduction. The Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and People-Centred Climate Action changed that…
It’s Time to Choose: Why Food System Transformation Can’t Wait
During the Second World War, the UK reshaped farming, land use, and diets with unprecedented speed in reaction to unforeseen events. We need that scale…
Strategic Policy and Research Advisory
on food, the environment and human health
I’m Elta Smith, an independent researcher and writer who generates ideas and produces insights for people who care deeply about food, the environment and human health.
Projects
My projects have addressed pressing issues related to antimicrobial resistance, climate change, open science, emerging technologies, biodiversity, and consumer behaviours. I believe that making better decisions means embracing complexity and the interrelationships between what we know and how we act
