The winning team, led by Dr Sajeev E. M. (Rothamstead Research) and joined by Michael Norman (University College London), Dr Christopher Waite (Imperial College London) and Rebecca Martin (Cambridge University), won with their proposal on “Are we ready for a plant-based diet?”.
PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from institutions across the UK took part in the Policy Lab, which took place in London from the 6-8th November. Six teams formed over the course of the three day event and competed to win the £5000 prize to write a policy-facing report for the Global Food Security Programme. Prior to forming groups and developing their ideas for project proposals, participants heard from stakeholders including academia, government and business on the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging food trends across the food system and discussed some of the major themes that arose.
Rebecca from the winning team said:
“The GFS policy lab was a great opportunity to engage with other early career researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the shared goal of ensuring food security in a rapidly changing food system. We heard from numerous fantastic speakers over the course of the workshop, who inspired fascinating discussions and even brought edible insects for us to try! As a team, we were delighted to be awarded the grant to carry out our work on the trend towards plant-based diets in the UK. We look forward to working together over the next 6 months to produce a think piece which we hope will help guide vital policies to protect our food system in the face of changing diets.”