CoCentre for Sustainable Food Systems

Our current food system does not meet the economic, social and environmental requirements needed to generate food security and nutrition for all. The food system faces urgent and complex challenges. This affects us locally in GB, NI and Ireland and it is also affected by global events. One in ten people are undernourished, one in four are overweight and more than one third of the world's population cannot afford a healthy diet. Food supplies are disrupted by heatwaves, floods, droughts and conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 15% increase in the number of people going hungry. The global food sector emits about 30% of the world's greenhouse gases (GHG), significantly impacting planetary health. Poor farming practices degrade soils, pollute and deplete water supplies and lower biodiversity locally and globally.

In order to feed the world without continuing to damage the environment, the way we produce and consume food must radically change. To ensure everyone in GB, NI and Ireland has access to sustainable, fair and healthy foods we require innovative and joined up approaches across disciplines and across jurisdictions.
Ireland and the UK are in a unique position being leading global providers of food and ingredients and we face evolving geopolitical challenges and relationships. These challenges heighten the importance of focusing attention on food security in this volatile world. This uncertainty and volatility requires a cohesive strategy to drive food system transformation in GB, NI and Ireland.

Using a complete food systems approach, from soil to society, SUREFOOD-I will conduct translational research spanning food production to public health. SUREFOOD-I will develop innovative and transformative solutions to transition our food system to ensure safe nutritious food for all. In doing so, SUREFOOD-I will deliver solutions to support our food system to transition to climate-neutrality by 2050.

SUREFOOD-I aims to transform the existing food systems in GB, NI and Ireland, addressing economic, social, health and environmental problems to ensure safe nutritious food for all, using an evidence-based food systems approach. SUREFOOD-I will consider specific challenges addressing food system integrity and resilience, food safety and healthy diets from sustainable sources.

The SUREFOOD-I research programme has four Platforms, conducting translational research spanning food production to public health: 1. Sustainable Food, 2. Food Safety and Integrity, 3. Nutrition and Health, and 4. Food Systems Data Modelling and Trust in Food Systems.

SUREFOOD-I will develop innovative techniques across these Platforms using interdisciplinary approaches to provide end-to-end solutions from soil to society, realised and showcased in demonstrator projects addressing specific societal and industry challenges. Outputs and innovations will be further exploited with industry and other stakeholders in targeted Spoke research.

The UKRI spoke links to all of the Platforms of the Co-Centre, particularly Trust in Food Systems and Regulation, Food Systems Data Modelling, and Food Production bringing internationally renowned expertise. The Spoke will enable integration of data to map the food system and undertake scenario modelling to realise improvements in food production, processing and consumption. It will consider the food system in Ireland, GB and NI in the context of these differing jurisdictions and regulatory landscapes. Secondly, work, data and resources associated with crop breeding and plant genomics will link directly with the Food Production Platform, focused on plant breeding. Thirdly, we will examine opportunities for dietary behaviour change and diet improvement in children/adolescents with interventions to address food insecurity in low-income households and develop non- invasive biomarkers to assess nutrient status/intake in the demonstrator household cohort.