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 allVegetarian and pescetarian diets linked to lower risk of coronary heart disease, says study
Vegetarian (including vegan) and pescetarian diets may be linked to a lower risk of coronary heart disease, or CHD for short, than diets that include meat, suggest the findings of a large UK study published in The BMJ today.
'Game On' to Kick Ambitious Goals for Agriculture, Energy, Water & Climate Change
Despite threats posed by global warming and other environmental challenges, an esteemed international expert on food security sees grounds for hope in the efforts to meet elusive goals around agriculture, energy, water and climate change.
Food security in focus in the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land
Land is under threat from rising global temperatures and unprecedented rates of land and freshwater exploitation the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns.
Eight ways to halt a global food crisis
There are serious challenges to global food supply everywhere we look.
people
View allCharles Godfray
Director, Oxford Martin School
Susan Jebb
Professor of Diet and Population Health
Marco Springmann
Senior Researcher in Population Health
Mike Rayner
Professor of Population Health
Tara Garnett
Food Climate Research Network Leader
Alexandra Sexton
Postdoctoral Researcher in Geography
Sarah Harper
Clore Professor of Gerontology
Kelly Reed
Project Manager
Publications
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Risks of ischaemic heart disease and stroke in meat eaters, fish eaters, and vegetarians over 18 years of follow-up: results from the prospective EPIC-Oxford study
Making Sense of Making Meat: Key Moments in the First 20 Years of Tissue Engineering Muscle to Make Food
EAT-Lancet score and major health outcomes: the EPIC-Oxford study
Managing nitrogen to restore water quality in China
Vegetarian diets and risk of hospitalisation or death with diabetes in British adults: results from the EPIC-Oxford study
Framing the future of food: The contested promises of alternative proteins