The Roadmap
About the Roadmap
The AFN Network+ was established by UK Research and Innovation in 2022 to consider the challenge of transforming the UK’s food system to meet our climate commitments. Since then, we’ve built a community of over 3,000 researchers, food and farming practitioners, and policymakers from across the UK dedicated to finding pathways to a more sustainable future.
Over recent years, the food system’s vulnerability to sudden shocks has become increasingly apparent – from pandemic upheavals to conflict-driven price spikes and extreme weather events. These disruptions underscore why transformation cannot wait. This Roadmap comes at a pivotal moment, with the UK government launching a new food strategy process with an aspirational vision for change. The question now is how to turn vision into reality.
Our five key messages
The way we produce and consume food in the UK is under mounting pressure – from climate change, global instability and health problems. But with these threats comes a pivotal opportunity: if we act now to shape the future, we can build a fairer, healthier, more secure food system that works better for everyone.
Farmers are on the front line of climate change and economic shocks. We must back them with a clear plan, with long-term financial confidence, transition support and skills development, that enables their businesses to flourish as diets shift – so we can grow more fruit, vegetables and pulses, reduce business over-reliance on livestock, and develop mixed farming systems that bring animals and cropping together. We must help farmers boost productivity and resilience so they are better able to feed us in difficult times, because food security is national security.
Land is a limited resource, and those who manage it are in a unique position of responsibility to meet the national interests of food production, habitat management, climate change mitigation and producing multiple other public goods. Working with farmers and land managers to collectively plan land use creates a major opportunity to better meet these needs for the nation, while giving farmers the clarity they need for their businesses. This requires government leadership, balancing trade-offs, and fair incentives for farmers and communities.
Eating well shouldn’t be a struggle. We need to make healthy food the easiest option for people. That means changing how food is marketed, sold and priced. As we eat differently, new opportunities will arise for UK farming to grow more of what we need for better health. Healthier diets will also reduce our dependence on imported animal products. A healthier population will mean a less burdened health system, a stronger economy and a fairer society.
These transformations connect emissions, nature, health and the economy. The changes we propose can bring real everyday benefits: healthier families, resilient farms, secure food supplies and a vibrant countryside. But we need to plan ahead – not muddle through from crisis to crisis. With effective leadership, we can build a food system that’s fairer, fitter and future-ready.
Download the Roadmap
Roadmap for Resilience: A UK Food Plan for 2050
Download the summary report
Roadmap for Resilience: A UK Food Plan for 2050 - Summary Report
Download our briefing on Healthier Diets
Read our briefing on Resilient Agricultural Production
Read our briefing on Smarter Land Use
Read our news story about the launch of the Roadmap
Rapid and urgent action on food is needed if the UK is to reboot its flagging economy, save the NHS billions, ensure national food security, and meet climate commitments, according to a new report from the AFN Network+.
The 2050 Scenarios
The scenarios we produced in 2023 were a tool to help us broaden thinking beyond business-as-usual assumptions about how the world will be in 2050. While all scenarios achieve net zero by 2050, they do so through different pathways shaped by varying global conditions, technological developments, and societal values. By considering multiple scenarios we can develop a set of common interventions that help build resilience in the system that is robust across different possible futures.
Find out more about the four different scenarios
The Future Food Calculator
The Future Food Calculator includes data on emissions, land use and food consumption and helps us understand the impacts of different choices and trade-offs as well as interdependencies. It helps us to get a sense of whether particular changes (i.e. changing the position of the sliders in the Calculator) move us closer to, or further away from, reaching net zero. It also can give an indication of the implications for UK food self-sufficiency and the pattern of land use. While the Calculator necessarily simplifies complex relationships, it serves several important functions:
- Highlights the size of emissions reductions from different interventions
- Reveals interconnections between different parts of the system
- Helps ensure discussions about co-benefits (such as biodiversity and public health) remain anchored in emissions reduction potential
- Provides a common reference point for discussions about trade-offs and priorities
The Calculator was developed by AFN Network+ Co-lead Sarah Bridle and Juan Pablo Cordero at the University of York, in collaboration with experts across the food system. It is part of the FixOurFood project under the Transforming UK Food Systems Programme.
Using the tools together
By combining scenario thinking with quantitative modelling we can:
- Test how different interventions might perform across multiple potential futures
- Identify potential synergies and conflicts between different objectives
- Ground creative thinking about the future in practical constraints and opportunities
- Support evidence-based discussions about priorities and trade-offs
These tools have helped to stretch our thinking beyond business-as-usual and identify the appropriate interventions included in the Roadmap.
