Please join us at SOAS, University of London for an evening to explore how growing corporate concentration has become a dominant trend in food systems. Hosted by the Department of Economics and the Critical Research on Industrial Livestock Systems (CRILS) Network, Professor Jennifer Clapp will highlight the complex and longstanding drivers of concentration across different parts of food systems, as well as the types of power that this trend confers to the dominant firms, enabling them to shape markets, policy, and material conditions in food systems. The talk will also reflect on the kinds of policy responses required to address corporate power, and the prospects for the policy agenda in this current moment of geopolitical turmoil.Joining us from the University of Waterloo in Canada, Jennifer Clapp is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability. She is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). From 2019-2023, she served on the Steering Committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and was Vice-Chair of that body from 2021-2023.The talk includes a Q&A session and will be followed by a reception. Please join us and share the news with anyone in your network who may be interested.

OverviewInterested in how to shape healthy, equitable and sustainable cities? This PhD will explore who influences healthy and sustainable food or physical activity policies in local government, and how these actors exert influence. Many UK local governments face challenges in developing healthy and sustainable food or active travel policies, often facing opposition from internal and external stakeholders. Focusing on either sustainable food or active travel policies, in this PhD you will assess who the influential stakeholders are through stakeholder mapping and network analysis. Through a systematic review, document analysis and the analysis of case studies you will explore what strategies and narrative frames these stakeholders have used to exert influence, how local governments have responded and who is most impacted.  You will develop expertise in encouraging shifts towards healthy and sustainable urban systems. You will join Dr Prachi Bhatnagar’s research team in the Population Health Sciences research institute, benefitting from the incredibly strong public health, sustainability and urban development networks that are based in Newcastle University.  Award Summary100% of UK home tuition fees paid and an annual stipend of £21,805. Additional funding is available for research costs, training and conference attendance. Please note this studentship is only available to those eligible for UK home tuition fee rates.  

Professor Barry Popkin has several decades of experience examining and helping to shape food and nutrition policies globally, This Food Thinkers webinar will cover Professor Popkin’s reflection on the last decade of government food and nutrition policies and what it means for current and future action. Before 2010, governments had been unable to mount serious campaigns that meaningfully shifted food purchases and diet towards health, let alone slow down or reduce the upward trajectory of obesity and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases. The last decade has seen the emergence of more structural policies focused on decreasing intake of unhealthy food and beverages high in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. Building on decades of knowledge from global tobacco reduction, policies to address widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods are starting to emerge in some countries. But more concerted government action is needed, alongside countries identifying ways to provide free or highly subsidized access to healthy food (e.g., vegetables, fruits, legumes) for lower income populations. This webinar provides an overview of progress and inspiration for what is needed for future food policies to be effective.The talk will be followed by an online Q&A session.Barry M. Popkin, PhD, is the W. R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses globally (both in the U.S. and in low- and middle-income countries) on understanding the stages of transition and is currently focused on working with the impact of programmes and policies meant to improve the health of the population during their time of transition. Barry has received a dozen major awards for his global contributions. He has published more than 615 refereed journal articles and is one of the most cited nutrition scholars in the world, with more than 162,000 citations. He has given over 130 plenary lectures at major conferences across the world and continues as an active researcher and speaker globally.

About UsFoodrise is a charity transforming the food system for climate, nature and justice.We take bold action to uncover the root causes of injustice in our food system and expose how corporate power exploits people and the planet, while building truly just and resilient alternatives from the ground-up.We speak truth to power. We take risks. We act where and when others won’t.From launching legal action and producing hard-hitting research to working directly with local communities, we drive systemic change across food and farming, powered by grassroots energy and backed by the facts.We exist to say what others won’t, do what others don’t, and never settle for “it can’t be done”. Change is possible, and we are rising to make it happen.We are based in the UK and the Netherlands. See more about us on our website. About the RoleThe Campaigner will support the development and delivery of campaigns that drive positive change within food systems. This role is ideal for someone early in their campaigning career who is passionate about influencing decision‑makers, mobilising public support, and helping deliver strategic impact across a variety of issues within food systems from dismantling industrial farming to delegitimising large corporations like large supermarket chains. This role will work collaboratively with colleagues across campaigns, so would suit an adaptive candidate with strong communication skills, keen to learn and grow within Foodrise.