Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC)

Sustainable food production and consumption

What we eat, where it comes from and how it is produced are important elements in the creation of a more sustainable society.  Sustainable food production and consumption and food security – an important element of community resilience - are key issues for many people in the Global South and the Global North.

The SRC’s work in this area includes:

• Farm diversification; current work on an EU H2020 bid with Wageningen University on the theme of Society Orientated Farming.  (Professor Gerard McElwee)
• A jointly funded research project between Kirklees Council and the University of Huddersfield Business School into the future of local food in Kirklees. (Dr John Lever)
  This research is intended to assist with fostering links between community food enterprises and policy makers by improving understanding of how a sustainable food culture can improve health and support the local economy and environment.
• Transparency and Sustainability in the UK Meat Industry
  Work by Dr John Lever seeks to provide insights into how, to what extent and in what ways public attitudes towards the production and provision of halal meat in the UK is linked to a lack of transparency in the meat industry and to public concerns over wider processes of rapid social change.  Dr Lever has published a jointly authored book: ‘Halal Matters: Islam, politics and markets in global perspective’ (2015) and is currently undertaking research for a new book comparing Global Kosher and Halal Markets. To follow John's blog click here: www.johnlever.com
• Sharing economy: Comoodle
  Dr John Lever and Dr Fiona Cheetham undertook research with Kirklees Council on the implementation of www.comoodle.com and new approaches to public service provision focused on collaborative consumption.
• 'Sharing the burden of supermarket food waste' is a University of Huddersfield Business School funded project which examines the sustainability of using waste and surplus food to address food poverty within West Yorkshire (Dr John Lever, Dr Fiona Cheetham & Professor Morven McEachern).