Christian Reynolds

City, University of London · Centre for Food Policy

This paper identifies and summarises food-waste prevention interventions at the consumption/consumer stage of the supply chain via a rapid review of academic literature from 2006-2017. We identify 17 applied interventions that claim to have achieved food waste reductions. Of these, 13 quantified food waste reductions. Interventions that changed the...

Food is widely acknowledged as a significant contributor to climate change. Yet, estimates of food-related greenhouse gas emissions frequently consider supply chain stages only up to farm gate or regional distribution centres. Here, we estimate greenhouse gas emissions associated with different cooking methods and appliances in the UK. Data on curr...

Citizen science and food is part of a new programme of work to explore how we can involve the communities we serve when building the evidence-base on which policy decisions are made. Citizen science is an approach that can provide high volumes of data with a wide geographic spread. It is relatively quick to deploy and allows access to evidence we...

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that the food waste problem affects all parts of the inhabited world. It describes concept of ‘vastogenesis’. Far from being devoid of, or separate from, regimes of value, ‘food/waste is both supportive of and necessar...

In this paper, we discuss the use of natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse nutritional and sustainability aspects of recipes and food. We present the state of the art and some use cases, followed by a discussion of challenges. Our perspective on addressing these is that while they typically have a technical n...

Food is an important part of everyday life, but measuring what, how, and when people eat, and with whom, is challenging. In Cross Cutting Theme 2 of the Healthy soil, Healthy food, Healthy people (H3) project, we aim to understand everyday practices and behaviors related to food, including eating out, shopping, home cooking, preparing, wasting, and...

This case study examines annual food procurement and waste data from a fine dining restaurant to establish a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) baseline, identify emission hotspots, and verify food waste reduction targets set previously by the restaurant. A total of 6,282 individual food purchases were reviewed, standardized, and conve...

In the UK, black African-Caribbeans (ACs) and South Asians (SAs) have 3–6 times greater risks of developing diabetes than white Caucasians do. East London is among the areas with the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the highest proportion of minority groups. This ethnic health inequality is ascribed to socioeconomic standing, dietary habit...

The UK fresh produce sector (fruit and vegetables) uses 38 kt of plastic consumer packaging per year and is the fifth largest product category for the creation of plastic waste in the UK. One way of addressing this is to sell fresh produce loose, without packaging. This study takes a mixed methods approach of a literature search of historical loose...

Background Food taxes have been proposed to encourage people to choose healthier foods and reduce diet-related disease. Rising obesity in the UK has been explained through various causal mechanisms and systems. Economic evaluation of obesity interventions would benefit from a documented understanding of system complexity. We aimed to describe the p...

Background In the UK, food policy is often made by national government, but typically interpreted and implemented by councils. This research explores which local government functions are involved in food policy, how they work together and how coherent their policy positions are. It builds on earlier work to map the food policy actors at national go...

How to Write the Perfect Policy Brief Communicating complex ideas in a simple, concise and persuasive way is integral to effective policymaking. Policy briefs play a crucial role in this process, but are tricky to master — as anyone who writes them will tell you! In this masterclass, participants will learn the art of writing the perfect policy bri...

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a neglected vector-borne disease which is endemic in many countries across Africa and has seen recent geographical expansions into the Arabian Peninsula. RVF can cause severe infections in both animals and humans. RVF infections in livestock can lead to mass fatalities. In humans, the symptoms are nonspecific and can ofte...

We report the results of a survey of farmers and landowners to identify the most likely potential food system disruption scenarios for the UK and compare these with a previous expert elicitation with a much wider set of food system stakeholders. We found that 60% of farmers think a Societal Event in which 1 in 2000 people are injured in the UK is a...

Beans, peas and pulses offer significant nutritional, health and environmental benefits (1,2,3, 4) and the FAO states that including pulses in agrifood systems is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals ⁽⁵⁾ . Recommended intakes vary across national food-based dietary guidelines ⁽⁶⁾ , but higher intakes are associated with benefits inclu...

Background and aims: Trade organisations and environmental NGOs increasingly target chefs to become actors of change in the food system for sustainable and healthy diets. Yet we know little about chefs' skills required to reduce food waste and GHG emissions associated with menus. This research aims to assess the state of the art in relation to chef...

Chefs have been targeted as actors of change in the food system for sustainable and healthy diets. Yet we know little about chefs' skills required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) associated with menus. A rapid review (RR) carried out in January 2024 explored peer-reviewed research linked to chefs, GHGE and the food system to develop an u...

Background and aims: Trade organisations and environmental NGOs increasingly target chefs to become actors of change in the food system for sustainable and healthy diets. Yet we know little about chefs' pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes towards reducing food waste and GHG emissions of food offers. This research aims to assess the state of...

Objective:This study evaluated the independent and combined environmental impacts of the consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods in Brazil. Design:Cross-sectional study. Setting:Brazil. Participants:We used food purchases data from a national household budget survey conducted between July 2017 and July 2018, representing all Brazilian househo...

We report the results of a structured expert elicitation to identify the most likely types of potential food system disruption scenarios for the UK, focusing on routes to civil unrest. We take a backcasting approach by defining as an end-point a societal event in which 1 in 2000 people have been injured in the UK, which 40% of experts rated as “Pos...

Food waste is a major challenge for the global food system, affecting its sustainability, health, society and economy. Plant food waste valorisation is the conversion of plant food waste or by-products into higher value products that contribute back to the food supply chain. This process can reduce the environmental impact of food loss and waste, a...

Consumption of snacks and ultra-processed foods (UPF) high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) is associated with rising rates of obesity and growing socioeconomic disparities in nutrition. While infancy, childhood and adolescence are critical periods for development of dietary preferences, there remains a dearth of research exploring factors that underp...

Using group model building we developed a series of causal loop diagrams identifying the environmental impacts of ultra-processed food (UPF) systems, and underlying system drivers, which was subsequently validated against the peer-reviewed literature. The final conceptual model displays the commercial, biological and social drivers of the UPF syste...

Food safety is a common concern at the household level, with important variations across different countries and cultures. Nevertheless, identifying the factors that best explain similarities and differences in consumer awareness pertaining to this topic is not straightforward. Starting from a questionnaire administered in seven countries from four...

Building on an extensive review of the literature and expert elicitation using group model building, we developed a series of causal loop diagrams identifying the environmental impacts of ultra-processed food (UPF) systems, and underlying system drivers. The final conceptual model displays the commercial, biological and social drivers of the UPF sy...

A short introductory slide deck on writing a Evidence submission for UK parliament Select Committees

Introduction Food waste is a global issue of primary concern due to its repercussions on the environment, food security, and the economy. Our study aimed to explore the impact of religion and religiosity on food waste generation among restaurant clienteles in Lebanon, a religiously diverse country. Methods A convenient sample of 927 restaurant pat...

Although ultra-processed foods represent more than half of the total energy consumed by the UK population, little is known about the trend in food consumption considering the degree of food processing. We evaluated the trends of the dietary share of foods categorized according to the NOVA classification in a historical series (2008-2019) among the...

In the year 2020, the Farm to Fork strategy was established intending to approach and mitigate many environmental challenges like food waste. To develop food loss and waste reduction and management strategies, there is a need to correctly diagnose the current situation. Argentina is a country ranked number 10 in global food production, with 214.3 m...

The practice by which international actors consider and engage with negotiations that influence the food system — food systems diplomacy — has the potential to reframe the global food governance narrative to balance the health, social, environmental and economic domains of food systems.

Food waste management apps are designed to be food manager software, combined with a versatile shopping and cooking planner that helps citizens avoid food waste by tracking what they have and when it expires. In 2021 a team of researchers trialled the Gub Gub food waste management app at the University of Sheffield. This summary report provides...

Reducing both food waste and food plastic packaging waste in the household has major environmental and economic benefits. However, due to the high cost and resources required, limited empirical research has been conducted on this topic. This paper provides 2 a new modelling strategy for incorporating complicated household behaviours to answer trade...

About Dr Reynolds session - why should Dietitians attend? Global food production is the single largest driver of environmental degradation, climate instability and the transgression of planetary boundaries. To reduce the environmental impacts associated with food, we need to change dietary patterns. The EAT-Lancet commission proposed a global refer...

Introduction FoodEx2 consists of a vocabulary of foods with assigned codes, allowing the classification and description of foods reported in different types of data (food consumption, composition, or production method) [1]. At least 56 food consumption databases have been coded with FoodEx2 [2]. The linkage of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) databa...

We commissioned the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London and collaborative partners to carry out a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) on UK citizen perceptions of food sustainability. Overview The main research question addressed is: What does sustainability mean to UK citizens when it comes to food and diet? The report addresses the...

Aimed at improving the quality of school meals, the Sustainable School Program (SSP) implemented low-carbon meals, twice a week, in 155 schools of 4 municipalities, reaching more than 32,000 students. This study evaluated the environmental impact and nutritional viability of this intervention for this population. The 15 most repeated meals from the...

Of the 1.3 billion tonnes of global food loss and waste, food waste related to animal products such as meat, seafood, and dairy is estimated to be 14%. This is equivalent to ∼19% of global animal products production, and is linked the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts related to food loss and waste. One promin...

This paper investigates to what extent food safety is perceived as a concern at the household level in different countries. It aims to identify the factors that best explain food safety concern, among the various foodrelated questions asked through a survey. To do so, a machine learning approach is used. The results show that the most significant e...

This contribution examines selected historic and contemporary “sustainable” and vegetarian recipes and cookbooks over time. Specifically, it investigates how the ingredients, methods, and environmental impacts of the food have been changing, and what this means for the future. We will first provide a literature review of the development of Europea...

POLICIES FOR ACHIEVING HEALTHY SUSTAINABLE DIETS 1. EU Green Deal, alternative proteins and dietary shift - Dr Cindy Schoumacher– EU policy officer 2. Where are we now? Sustainability gaps in the UK & EU - Dr Rosemary Green, Associate Professor in Sustainability, UK MOVING FROM POLICIES TO PRACTICE 3. Persuasion and nudging towards healthier diet...

The calculation of environmental impacts from recipes remains a barrier to effective uptake of sustainable diets. In our project, we use pilot digital humanities methods to explore digitised recipe texts from websites in English, Dutch and German. Using the natural language processing toolkit GATE [1], we have developed customised tools to automati...

A barrier to the adoption of low carbon diets is the lack of quantification of embodied greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) at the level of a recipe and/or portion, rather than the ingredient per 100g. This lack of quantification is also a barrier to the deployment of carbon labels for the out of home/hospitality sector due to there being no quick meth...

Background The consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased worldwide and has been related to the occurrence of obesity and other non-communicable diseases. However, little is known about the environmental effects of ultra-processed foods. We aimed to assess the temporal trends in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), water footprint, and ecologic...

Objetivo: Avaliar o impacto ambiental da dieta brasileira e a influência que o consumo de carne bovina e de alimentos ultraprocessados exerce naquele impacto. Métodos: Utilizou-se dados de aquisição domiciliar de alimentos da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares 2017-2018. Foram calculadas as pegadas de carbono e hídrica da aquisição total de alimento...

To enhance sustainability, the food system requires shifts in production, processing and supply. Ideally, a sustainable food system should operate, not only to protect the biosphere, but also to provide nutritious, high-quality food, support social values, an equitable economy, and human and animal health. It should be governed responsibly within a...

Of the 1.3 billion tonnes of global food loss and waste, meat waste is estimated to be 4%. This is equivalent to ~19% of global meat production, and is linked to much of the greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts related to food loss and waste. One method to reduce the environmental impact of meat is to reduce global food loss and...

The current pilot study explored food insecurity, food waste, food related behaviours and cooking confidence of UK consumers following the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were collected from 473 UK based consumers (63% female) from in March 2020. A cross-sectional online survey measured variables including, food insecurity prevalence, self-reported food wa...

In the last decade, issues relating to food waste and loss and sustainable diets have rapidly risen up the social and political agenda. There is no doubt that they will feature heavily in the discussions at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow later this year. Indeed, the food system is estimated to contribute up to 37% of global gre...

The food system is hugely complex, with different actors, different geographic areas and cultural contexts. The literature on ‘citizen science’ related to food, and food systems, is concentrated primarily in a few key areas of this complex system (i.e. health and food production); but citizen science has the potential to help address many grand cha...

This paper draws upon the concept of recreancy to examine the mental well-being of university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Briefly, recreancy is loss of societal trust that results when institutional actors can no longer be counted on to perform their responsibilities. Our study of mental well-being and recreancy focuses on the role of un...

Purpose The study aims to compare survey recruitment rates between Facebook, Twitter and Qualtrics and to assess the impact of recruitment method on estimates of energy content, food safety, carbon footprint and animal welfare across 29 foods. Design/methodology/approach Two versions of an online survey were developed on the citizen science platfo...

High levels of arsenic in drinking water and food materials continue to pose a global health challenge. Over 127 million people alone in Bangladesh (BD) and West Bengal (WB) state of India are exposed to elevated levels of arsenic in drinking water. Despite decades of research and outreach, arsenic awareness in communities continue to be low. Speci...

Food systems are significant sources of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). Since emission intensity varies greatly between different foods, changing food choices towards those with lower GHGE could make an important contribution to mitigating climate change. Public engagement events offer an opportunity to communicate these multifaceted issues...

Public sector catering outlets have been proposed as ideal places to try new, sustainable food choice interventions. We report on promotions conducted during 2019 as part of a "living lab" at the University of Sheffield Students' Union. Living labs involve staging interventions or experiments in a real-world setting that are carefully monitored and...

With an increasing focus on the uptake of healthy and sustainable diets, a growing body of research has explored consumer perceptions and understanding of the environmental impacts and safety of foods. However, this body of research has used a wide range of methods to recruit participants, which can influence the results obtained. The current resea...

Analysis of digitised or digital recipes is a new and upcoming field of research, with publications linked to nutritional and health studies, computational linguistics, computational gastronomy, online shopping recommendations, and the semantic web published over the last 3-5 years. However, contemporary recipe analysis is underdeveloped in terms o...

Background: We aim to assess the trends in the consumption of unprocessed or minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed animal products, and the environmental impacts associated with them. Methods: We have used data from five Brazilian Household Budget Surveys (1987, 1996, 2003, 2009, 2017). Animal products (beef, pork, poultry, eggs, fis...

Food is widely acknowledged as a major contributor to climate change but estimates of food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions frequently consider supply chain stages only up to the farm gate or regional distribution centres. Here we estimate GHG emissions associated with different cooking methods and appliances in the UK. Data on current cookin...

Food loss and food waste are urgent global problems relating to environmental and social challenges including biodiversity loss, climate change, health, and malnutrition. Reduction targets have been set, including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels globally by 2030, as we...

Citizen science has been used for environmental and cosmology research for many years, but can it be applied to food. This presentation will explore the rapid developments in how we can use citizens and communities to research and educate about food.

Purpose Participation in urban horticulture (UH) is increasing in popularity, and evidence is emerging about the wide range of social and environmental benefits “grow your own” can also provide. UH can increase mental and physical wellbeing, as well as improve nature connectedness, social capital and community cohesion. Approach This study focuses...

Food waste is an issue of global importance. Households generate more food waste than any other source in high- and middle-income countries. There are many solutions to reduce household food waste, but measurement of the impact of each solution is costly, and therefore usually not undertaken. This is a major barrier to decision makers adopting the...

Background: Ultra-processed foods (UPF) have been associated with major diet-related public health issues that share underlying drivers with climate change. Both challenges require major changes to the food system and so the potential benefits to health and the environment present a double motivation for transformation. Our aim is to assess the imp...

A set of slides for the Roundtable: Digitizing Food in the Book, at Food and the Book: 1300-1800. The slides describe the activities of the AHRC US-UK Food Digital Scholarship Network. This network was funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (Grant Reference: AH/S012591/1). https://www.newberry.org/10022020-food-and-book-1300-1800

Recent high-level reports state the population should decrease meat consumption to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as improve public health. This calls for new strategies to change dietary habits, especially as many consumers are reluctant to eat less meat. This study tests the effect of labelling a meat-based ready meal with differe...