Video transcript: Global Food and Environment Institute – what are the food system challenges our researchers focus on?
Transcript for the video embedded on the Global Food and Environment Institute homepage.
[Music plays]
A Global Food and Environment Institute display banner appears, which reads ‘The Global Food and Environment Institute’ and has a University of Leeds logo.
Dr David Williams, Associate Professor, appears and says: We need to change what we eat, how we produce it, and where we produce it. So it sounds simple, but obviously each of those is very, very difficult to achieve and very, very complicated.
[Cutaway to footage from a GFEI conference. Throughout the rest of the video, as each speaker speaks, there are various cutaway scenes to the conference, featuring speakers giving presentations, table discussions and collaborations].
Dr Ruth Wade, Lecturer in Sustainable Agriculture, appears and says: The biggest food system challenge we face at the moment is climate change.
Ruth continues: We are really lucky at the University of Leeds because we have a 317 hectare arable commercial farm with the ability to undertake different research into this challenge.
Dr Jenny Hodbod, Associate Professor appears and says: So I think universities are really important in the space of creating that transition to more sustainable food systems. We also do a lot of work with our partnerships at the University of Leeds.
Jenny continues: So, how do we then take the academic research on those solutions and work with the people across all of those different areas of the food system to make sure it gets embedded into good practice for more sustainable outcomes.
[Cutaway to footage from a conference].
Dr Tinashe Kanosvamhira, Lecturer in Critical Human Geography appears and says: I believe the biggest challenge with the food system currently is the increase in urban food security. urban food security and I've come together with different communities to understand how they address various injustices.
Tinashe continues: Central to this is food injustice. A lot of communities come together sharing resources, managing resources around water, food and land for the betterment of their communities.
Visual: Conference footage of other presentations
Dr Roxana Barbulescu, Associate Professor, appears and says: My research looks at workforce in UK farming. Labour shortages in this field are acute and they are preventing farmers to achieve good crops, affordable and fresh food for consumers.
Visual: Conference footage of table discussions. I'm looking in particular at what extent immigration can be a solution.
Dr Simha Sridharan, Postdoctoral Researcher, appears and says: So I'm a protein science researcher. I'm looking at plant proteins. So my research is looking at hundreds of plant proteins. looking at how they work, and then using machine learning to inform which of these proteins might work for your specific application, whether you're a manufacturer or at home, you can decide which plant protein works best for you. Given my work in the global south, particularly in Africa. I think the University of Leeds really has a very important role in building North-South collaboration. Such initiatives are already creating platforms for knowledge sharing.
Dr Effie Papargyropoulou, Associate Professor, appears and says: So the University of Leeds can play a big role in supporting transitions to sustainable food systems by ensuring that these transitions are just and equitable. We can do this by creating partnerships with community groups and stakeholders, food actors that don't necessarily have a lot of power and in that way enable them to be part of the decision making and have their voices heard.
Professor Stephen Whitfield, Director of the Global Food and Environment Institute, appears and says: The challenges associated with our food system are many and varied. They range from over consumption as well as under nutrition through to the environmental footprint of our food production and supply chains.
[Footage of a Regenerative Agriculture stall at a conference. A pop-up banner saying ‘Regenerative Agriculture’ and a table displaying soil samples and leaflets are in a pile for people to pick up].
Stephen continues: The Global Food Environment Institute is a cross-faculty research institute.
{A selection of conference posters are displayed around the walls at the conference].
Stephen says: We support staff from across the university in carrying out interdisciplinary food systems research and education.
[Closing text reads: ‘Find out more at leeds.ac.uk/globalfood’].