Transformations to Regenerative Food Systems
The Transformations towards a Regenerative Food System programme (TREFs) has a vision to transform food systems (FS) across the UK towards being 'regenerative'. Our current food systems are responsible for major social and environmental impacts, such as poor diets, ill health and major environmental degradation and threaten the long-term wellbeing of people and the planet. Because many aspects of ecological and human health have already passed critical thresholds, new regenerative approaches are needed that go beyond just reducing harm to sustainable levels and instead develop food systems that have dynamics that 'spiral up' social, economic and environmental benefit for all.
Our work focuses on shifting trajectories towards regenerative dynamics in three inter-related systems of: healthy eating for young children, hybrid food economies and farming. This enables us to consider not just the food chain (farming to fork) but also its outcomes, such as food security (availability, access and utilisation of food), quality, safety and social welfare, as well as how these aspects interact with social, economic and environmental drivers.
To achieve this, our research has been developed with a range of food systems stakeholders from farming, industry, civil society and national and regional government. By working with these diverse stakeholders, we aim to change the Yorkshire food system and use the learning, to inform change efforts in other parts of the UK and beyond.
Our main research questions are:
(1) What do regenerative systems look like? and (2) How can transformations be enabled so we can get to regenerative food systems?
Our work has six main outcomes for Yorkshire and beyond:
- New visions of regenerative food systems
- Scalable innovative interventions (e.g. new models of food procurement and environmentally sustainable menus for schools and early years settings; educational resources/activities linking healthy diet and climate change such as remote/interactive farming platform for schools; hybrid business models like food hubs, community urban vertical farms; a UK wide model to predict impacts of scaling regenerative farming, linking of regenerative farming produce to schools and anchor institutions procurement)
- New policies and governance mechanisms (such as the Food Systems Council for Yorkshire) to ensure impact well beyond the programme
- New metrics and platform to help guide and drive transformation (e.g. new data for National Food School monitoring; and an open-source codebase with quantitative systems models to co-create a new metrics dashboard for food systems transformation)
- New narratives for different stakeholders to support cultural change
- Bringing together different stakeholders, information and new ways of thinking to ensure long-term transformational intent. Overall, our cutting-edge science that uses co-creation and action-oriented methods aims to actively shift trajectories towards new kinds of regenerative food systems in Yorkshire. It also aims to produce cutting-edge science about how to achieve transformation of food systems towards the new concepts of regenerative futures. Through the influential researchers and partners involved, this learning will also be actively fed into UK policy and international endeavours, ensuring the programme has wide-reaching and long-lasting impact
The University
Founded on principles of excellence, equality and opportunity for all, the University of York opened in 1963 with just 230 students. In 2019 it is the centre for over 18,000 students across more than 30 academic departments and research centres. In over 50 years we have become one of the world's leading universities and a member of the prestigious Russell Group.
The University has consistently been recognised as one of the leading Higher Education Institutes and is one of just six post-war universities which has appeared in the world top 100. The University of York has won six Times Higher Education (THE) Awards and five Queen's Anniversary Prizes, including two in Computer Science.
We are proud of our association with Athena SWAN, holding twelve awards in support of women in science, with gold awards for Chemistry and Biology as well as a University-wide bronze award.
Of 154 universities that took part in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014, the University of York ranked 14th overall and 10th on the impact of our research. The University is consistently in the top ten UK research universities and attracts over £60m a year of funding from research alone.
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The City of York
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Shopping, culture and entertainment
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Yorkshire
The Lonely Planet guide recently declared Yorkshire the third best region in the world to visit. There is something to cater to every taste, whether it be the rugged landscapes of the Moors or the Dales, the picturesque seaside towns of Scarborough and Robin Hoods Bay, the gothic architecture of Whitby or the vibrancy of cosmopolitan Leeds.
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