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A national approach for transformation of the UK food system

Nature Food volume 1, pages 6–8 (2020)Cite this article

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Transformation of the food system at the national scale requires concerted action from government, business and civil society, based on sound evidence from the research community. A programme for transformation of the United Kingdom’s food system, for healthy people and a healthy environment, is described here.

The food system is highly interconnected and complex. A food systems approach avoids consequences from interventions in one part of the system adversely affecting another, and provides a framework for multi-pronged and simultaneous action to drive change. This approach is particularly important in the context of coordination failure — which currently occurs across the food system — where government departments, academia and industry work in relative silos on cross-cutting issues.

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Fig. 1: The food system.

Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London

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Acknowledgements

R.B. co-wrote this paper in his role as director of the Global Food Security programme; it does not necessarily reflect the views of the programme partners. G.P. co-wrote this paper in his role as an academic at the University of Southampton, and director of the UK Food system for healthy people and healthy environment programme. He is also the chief scientific adviser for a non-ministerial UK Government Department (Food Standards Agency), although the paper relates to his academic role and not his advisory role.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Food Security Programme, Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council, Swindon, UK

    Riaz Bhunnoo

  2. Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, School of Biological Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Guy M. Poppy

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  1. Riaz Bhunnoo
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  2. Guy M. Poppy
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Correspondence to Guy M. Poppy.

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Bhunnoo, R., Poppy, G.M. A national approach for transformation of the UK food system. Nat Food 1, 6–8 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-019-0019-8

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