- University of Sheffield experts are leading a new £6 million research project to transform the UK food system from the ground up
- Research will focus on improvements to sustainability and resilience within horticulture, hydroponics and hybrid farms
- Project will also focus on the health benefits for people living in the UK that could be gained by transforming UK agriculture and the impact of our food systems on the environment
A new £6m research project titled Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people (H3) seeks to transform the UK food system from the ground up via an integrated programme of interdisciplinary research.
Social and natural scientists from the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield will collaborate on a whole-system approach to emphasise the links between production and consumption and identify practical paths towards food system transformation.
Food security and sustainability are among the greatest challenges facing the world today, and traditional approaches of intensifying food production are coming under criticism for not looking at the whole picture of how we produce, and supply food to the nation.
The Covid-19 pandemic also shone a light on the fragility of the UK's food systems resilience and how its reliance on foreign imports during a global crisis meant people in the UK experienced empty shelves, and shortages of basic staples such as flour and pasta.
The H3 consortium - which draws on the combined strength of researchers from the University of Sheffield, University of Leeds, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge and City, University of London as well as a wide range of stakeholders from government, business and civil society - will focus its research on horticulture, hydroponics and hybrid farms, and on the health benefits of biofortification and increased fibre consumption.
This is an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to use cutting-edge research to have a genuinely transformative effect on the health and sustainability of the UK food system.
"We are delighted that the Institute for Sustainable Food will be leading one of the four consortia to be funded by the UK Research and Innovation's Transforming the UK Food System for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment programme.
Professor Peter Jackson
Co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield
The project will identify practical paths towards food system interventions: on farm, in food manufacturing and retail, and improve dietary health and environmental sustainability of the agri-food industry in the UK.
This will include finding ways to increase the production of health-promoting vegetables, while reducing reliance on harmful agricultural inputs and imported food by integrating hydroponic production systems within conventional soil-based farms. The project will also look at how improving the microbiomes of growing mediums has the potential to increase nutrients in our food systems and reduce our reliance on pesticides.
We are absolutely delighted by this award and excited to apply the food systems level thinking we've developed at the Institute for Sustainable Food to the real world.
"Backed up by our world-leading research, this work has huge transformational potential to improve the sustainability, the quality, and the equity of our agri-food system here in the UK. Working closely with our external partners will add a real world perspective to shape how our initiatives are applied.
"In terms of fighting the climate crisis, this kind of transformational research is sorely needed. We are delighted that the Institute for Sustainable Food will be leading the way in developing and applying that research."
Professor Duncan Cameron
Co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield
