1 December 2025
Andrew Stark: ‘Invaluable digests of policy and research’
At Eating Better, we are a small team of six and we don’t have a big budget. For a small charity, it definitely helps us to access funding from AFN Network+. The first batch of funding as part of our Changing the Narrative project enabled us to put on a series of workshops, giving our members a deep dive on various food system topics. That led to the second phase of work, looking in depth at retailers and farmers. One of the things that came out of the retail workshop was that a lot of our members don’t always understand the complexity of how retailers operate.
With the help of three former senior retail figures, that led to the creation of a messaging guide about how to communicate and work more effectively on retail and manufacturers. . It’s about trying to be more proactive rather than stuck in that problem loop, which the funding helped make happen. I can’t emphasise enough how useful the AFN+ newsletters are. I know that we don’t get to read a lot of the reports that come out due to time constraints so the quick reaction to in-depth policy changes or research is incredible because they’re so quick. An example was the recent UK government food strategy announcement; within a day we received an AFN Network+ email explaining it all.
“I can’t emphasise enough how useful the AFN+ newsletters are. I know that we don’t get to read a lot of the reports that come out due to time constraints so the quick reaction to in-depth policy changes or research is incredible because they’re so quick.”
I started my career at WWF Scotland and then worked on land use at the RSPB, before joining Eating Better as research and policy manager. Diets are something that encompass a lot of different aspects, from health to sustainability, and I like dipping in and out with a systems approach. The AFN’s Big Tent event was a fantastic chance to meet a lot of researchers and I made some quite senior connections there, with whom I was able to follow up. I had a poster on display and someone from Defra came and spoke to me about that work, and following that, a colleague of theirs came to the farm event that we just had that looked to depolarise farming and dietary change. This led to me making another messaging guide on farming. Credit to the AFN Network+ for creating those connections.
There are other events and spaces where people can convene, like Groundswell, but what AFN Network+ does well is consistency across events, media and research digests. And I think the emphasis on diversity and inclusion and looking at food differently is something the Network is leading the way on. It’s refreshing to be connected with different communities.
