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 of deliberate change again, but this time we have something wartime planners didn’t: the chance to act before crisis forces our hand. The case for acting now is already clear….
In recent years, we’ve witnessed empty supermarket shelves, panic buying, and supply chain failures that would have seemed impossible a decade ago. Chronic vulnerabilities in the UK food system—from farmer poverty to just-in-time logistics—have created a system where minor shocks can cascade into major crises. The question isn’t if another crisis will hit, but whether…
Parents skipping meals to feed their children, healthcare workers relying on food banks, middle-income families struggling to afford fresh produce—these increasingly common realities reflect something more profound than individual hardships. They provide compelling evidence that our food environments are fundamentally failing to provide accessible nutrition for all. The statistics underpinning these examples are sobering: the…
Many factors influence our food choices. What’s for dinner depends partly on personal tastes, time, budget, and health goals. But individual decisions and preferences alone don’t determine what’s on our plates, as we are often led to believe. The food system that shapes what we eat operates on much larger scales than personal choice and…
Food is far more than something to simply satisfy hunger. It is woven into the fabric of human life and planetary health. Food choices shape identity and allow us to connect with family, friends, and culture through shared meals and food rituals. Community practices related to food reinforce social bonds. Agricultural and culinary traditions link…
The year is 2035. Sitting at my desk, later than usual finishing up the day’s work, I open an app on my smartphone and search for ‘pizza’. ‘You have the ingredients for that’ pings back to me and I click ‘ok’. Another message appears ‘how many servings?’ I select ‘one’. A clock function appears, and…
A lot has been written about the potential for insect proteins to become part of our diets. The topic has been investigated in the scientific literature for more than 30 years. Much of this research has tried to account for the popularity of insects as part of the traditional diet in non-western cultures and the…
I recently wrote about the potential for insect proteins to shape human and animal diets. Despite decades of research and hype, insects have not become a mainstream food in westernised cultures. Many factors are responsible for the current state of the industry and a combination of economic, political, and social issues will need to be…
Elta Smith is an independent researcher, writer and consultant. She is an experienced leader in making better policies for our food systems. Her research focuses on the intersection of food, the environment and human health.
She has directed and managed studies for UK, EU and international organisations covering issues not only from ‘farm to fork’, but from ‘lab to fork’, particularly the role of science and technology in transforming the food chain.
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