The Oxford Martin Programme on
The Future of Food
The Challenge
A significant overhaul of the current global food system is needed to meet the challenges of feeding a growing world population in a healthy, equitable, sustainable and resilient way.
The future of food programme links together research on the food system at Oxford and facilitates solution-orientated research to address these major concerns. The research includes scientific, economic, social and environmental issues of food production and consumption, as well as how food affects health, sustainability and economic development.
By integrating existing research, supporting new interdisciplinary initiatives, and facilitating interactions between academia, government, civil society and the private sector, we provide fresh insights and propose effective action to address the challenges of feeding the global population.
Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP)
The global average consumption of meat and dairy is rising, driven by increasing incomes and population growth. The growing demand for meat matters as its consumption has significant effects on people’s health and livestock production can have major environmental impacts.
The LEAP programme aims to understand the health, environmental, social and economic effects of meat and dairy consumption to provide evidence and tools for decision makers to promote healthy and sustainable diets.
LEAP is supported by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health Programme and is a four-year project (2017-2021) led by Professor Charles Godfray and Professor Susan Jebb.
Food in the Anthropocene
Long Read - May 2019
There is an urgent need to find answers to the question of how to feed the world’s population - projected to reach 10 billion by 2050 - in a healthy and sustainable way. From fundamental changes to farming methods to the potential of alternative protein sources, Oxford Martin School academics are working to secure solutions for both people and planet.
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latest news
View allMeat and dairy gobble up farming subsidies worldwide; it's bad for your health and the planet
The global food system is in disarray. Animal agriculture is a major driver of global heating, and as many as 12 million deaths from heart disease, stroke, cancers and diabetes are each year connected to eating the wrong things, like too much red and processed meat and too few fruits and vegetables.
Sustainable eating is CHEAPER as well as healthier
A study has shown that in countries like America, the UK, Australia and across Western Europe choosing to go vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian could slash your food bill by up to one-third!
Future of Food programme works with Tesco on plant-based push for the planet
The Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food recently worked with Tesco to highlight the environmental benefits of incorporating more plant-based meals into diets ahead of the COP26 climate summit, which begins this Sunday.
Reduction in UK red and processed meat intake, but more needed to meet our climate targets
Daily meat consumption in the UK has decreased by approximately 17.4g per person per day – just under a 17% reduction – in the last decade, finds new research from the University of Oxford.
people
View allCharles Godfray
Director, Oxford Martin School
Susan Jebb
Professor of Diet and Population Health
Tara Garnett
Director of Table
Marco Springmann
Senior Researcher in Population Health
Sarah Harper
Clore Professor of Gerontology
Mike Rayner
Professor of Population Health
Jim Hall
Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks
Michael Hamm
C. S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture
Publications
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Options for reforming agricultural subsidies from health, climate, and economic perspectives
The global and regional costs of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns: a modelling study
Policy analysis indicates health-sensitive trade and subsidy reforms are needed in the UK to avoid adverse dietary health impacts post-Brexit
Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets
Inclusion, transparency, & enforcement: How the EU-Mercosur trade agreement fails the sustainability test
Demonstrating GWP*: a means of reporting warming-equivalent emissions that captures the contrasting impacts of short- and long-lived climate pollutants