If you missed our annual Network gathering last month, here are the highlights from our keynote presentations:

Emma Pinchbeck

Emma is Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee. The body advises the UK and devolved governments on Carbon Budgets and Climate Change Risk Assessments and does annual assessments of the Government’s progress.

Key points:

• Agriculture is becoming a larger share of emissions, and addressing it will require reducing livestock numbers (especially ruminants like cows and sheep), improving farming practices (e.g., feed additives, better waste management), and freeing up land for carbon sequestration (e.g., tree planting, hedgerow restoration).
• For all transitions, the farming income related to agricultural production will decrease due to the fall in agricultural activity, but this is more than offset by the combined increase in income from non-farming diversifications and payments for delivering social benefits (assuming the latter still happen). Across the transitions, and after allowing for costs, the uplift in total net benefits (private and social) compared to the baseline by 2050 typically ranged from £500 to £1,500/hectare.
• The committee emphasises the importance of making these transitions financially feasible for farmers and acknowledges the potential social benefits (e.g., improved air and water quality).

Professor Bob Doherty

Bob is founding Dean of the School for Business and Society at the University of York. Bob is also Principal Investigator of the five-year FixOurFood research programme.

Key points:

• We are at an unprecedented time for food policy in the UK and EU; partly sparked by Brexit but also a growing recognition of the costs to society of a dysfunctional food system, particularly health services and the environment. There will be learnings across national boundaries, and it’s important to remember that policy can take place at many scales, from local to national and international.
• Routes for scientists to get involved in UK national policy include: 
  • Defra-led R&D commissions,  
  • Expert advice councils/ boards e.g. Food Standards Agency, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) and other House of Lords and Houses of Parliament commissions, 
  • Expert advice groups, e.g., Scientific Advisory Committee, 
  • Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) advertises positions that feed into UK parliamentary advice. 
• Food policy is not just about Defra – food is impacted by at least 26 government agencies and departments. Don’t assume that government departments talk to each other – sometimes they need a broker to do this for them. FAO is looking at this; how to create better governance across the food system. 

Top tips to influence policy:

• Be a broker of knowledge: For example, during the pandemic Bob worked with retailers, processors, trade unions, etc to put Covid testing systems in their sewage systems. 
• Be a champion for systems thinking: Build capacity across the organisation you work with. 
• Frame evidence: Maximum one piece of paper for ministers with a clear and concise overview.
• Be collaborative: Be humble, pleasant and persistent. 
• Get timings right: Know about policy windows and timings. 

Dr Riaz Bhunnoo

Riaz is Director of the UKRI Global Food Security Programme. Rhiaz oversees UKRI’s funding on food resilience and health inequalities.

Key points:

The future for funding in general is currently very uncertain due to the spending review. 

• There is an issue of long-term funding for networks created by UKRI, and the organisation is piloting funding networks on an ongoing basis. UKRI is also working with Defra on a farming innovation platform. 
• Food is unique as it goes across all five of UKRI’s strategic themes. Given its importance, UKRI commissioned a deep dive into the organisation’s food investments to ensure its effectiveness. 

The major recommendations of this report include:

• Convene a cross-UKRI Food Research & Innovation Strategy Group to provide rapid input to and oversight of future UKRI food priorities and programmes, including a coordinated approach to spending reviews
• This Strategy Group should identify a vision for UK food research and innovation, and clarify how UKRI will work with government, devolved administrations, academia, industry and the charitable sector to deliver that vision.
• The Strategy Group should be informed by an advisory group of key stakeholders
• The Strategy Group should consider how UKRI can help key institutions maintain and enhance their strategic research leadership across the food system in close collaboration with others across the sector. 

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