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 allEnvironmental impact of 57,000 multi-ingredient processed foods revealed
This is the first time a transparent and reproducible method has been developed to assess the environmental impacts of multi-ingredient products.
Taxing meat can protect the environment
Taxing meat could be an important lever for aligning Western diets with environmental goals and can be designed such that low-income households and farmers are compensated.
Meat 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!
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 on Environment and Health
Sarah Harper
Director, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing
Mike Rayner
Professor of Population Health
Jim Hall
Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks
Publications
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Estimating the environmental impacts of 57,000 food products
Green rebranding: Regenerative agriculture, future-pasts, and the naturalisation of livestock
Using the ‘good farmer’ concept to explore agricultural attitudes to the provision of public goods. A case study of participants in an English agri-environment scheme
Options for reforming agricultural subsidies from health, climate, and economic perspectives
Agroecological break out: Legumes, crop diversification and the regenerative futures of UK agriculture
The global and regional costs of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns: a modelling study