Assessing local authority policy interventions to reduce food-related GHG emissions

这一ESRC博士后奖学金旨在帮助我们了解地方当局如何应用政策来减少与食品有关的碳排放。该奖学金包括五个目标，它们将增进我们在这一领域的了解，并提供技能、经验和专业网络来帮助我发展我的研究事业。该奖学金的第一个目标是通过在学术期刊上发表两篇论文来传播我的博士研究的关键成果。我的博士学位专注于采用在线食品中心(也称为‘在线农贸市场’)，以及使用它们可以在多大程度上减少碳排放。经验数据是通过与Open Food Network合作收集的，Open Food Network是一个在20个国家开展业务的开源直销平台。我将在这些论文中提出两个关键发现，这两个发现揭示了这一奖学金的第二个目标。首先，使用在线食品中心会鼓励人们吃更健康、更季节性的饮食，减少食物浪费，无论他们加入该中心的动机是什么。其次，通过六种机制，在不确定的范围内，使用食品中心减少碳排放。我将在两个相关的高影响力期刊(农业与人类价值观；清洁生产杂志)上发表这些发现，以便与在他们的工作中关注类似主题的学术受众分享我的研究。第二个目标是举办一系列利益相关者研讨会，将考虑为地方当局减少食品排放的创新政策干预，以及提供共同利益，如改善饮食健康。第一个研讨会将调查地方当局如何优先为学校、医院和公共餐饮店采购对环境负责的供应链，如在线食品中心。这种供应方的干预可以与消费者信息或公共食堂的“轻推”相结合，以鼓励就地选择健康、低碳的食物。第二期研讨会将探讨将社会处方模式应用于食品以改善特定社会群体的饮食健康的潜力。国家粮食战略(2021年)的一项关键建议是“试行社区伊特韦尔计划”，目标是来自低收入家庭的个人，他们将从新鲜农产品和食品技能培训中受益。这次研讨会将考虑如何在实践中发挥作用：哪些组织应该参与，需要什么资源，以及如何确定和衡量成功的结果。第三个是横向思维研讨会，它将考虑地方当局干预粮食系统或影响粮食行为以实现政策目标的任何其他方式。研讨会参与者将决定探讨哪些想法，但选项包括“议会支持的农业”(采用“社区支持的农业”模式)或利用食物特性的当地商业支持(应用“土地”概念)。这些研讨会的影响最终将取决于多个利益攸关方的参与，这些利益攸关方有能力和知识在公共食品供应和饮食健康方面带来战略性变化。因此，该奖学金的第三个目标是建立我的专业网络，以便我可以邀请关键的利益相关者参与这些讨论。这些讲习班的知识生产和联网成果将构成未来筹资提案的基础，这是研究金的第四个目标。最后一个目标是发展我的教学经验，以促进我作为一名学者的事业。

This ESRC postdoctoral fellowship aims to contribute to our knowledge of how local authorities can apply policies to reduce food-related carbon emissions. The fellowship encompasses five objectives which will advance our understanding in this area, as well as provide the skills, experience, and professional networks to help me develop my research career.The first objective of this fellowship is to disseminate the key findings of my PhD research by publishing two papers in academic journals. My PhD focused on the adoption of online food hubs (also called 'online farmers' markets') and to what extent using them could reduce carbon emissions. Empirical data was collected through a collaboration with Open Food Network, an open-source direct marketing platform which operates in 20 countries. There are two key findings that I will present in these papers, and which inform the second objective of this fellowship. First, using an online food hub encourages people to eat a healthier, more seasonal diet and waste less food, irrespective of their motivation for joining the hub. Second, using food hubs reduces carbon emissions, within uncertainty ranges, through six mechanisms. I will publish these findings in two relevant high impact journals (Agriculture & Human Values; Journal of Cleaner Production) in order to share my research with academic audiences who focus on similar themes in their work.The second objective is to run a series of stakeholder workshops that will consider innovative policy interventions for local authorities to reduce food emissions, as well as providing co-benefits such as improved dietary health. The first workshop will investigate how local authorities could prioritise environmentally responsible supply chains, such as online food hubs, for procurement for schools, hospitals, and public catering outlets. This supply-side intervention could be combined with consumer messaging or 'nudges' in public canteens to encourage healthy, low carbon food choices in situ. The second workshop will explore the potential of applying the social prescribing model to food to improve the dietary health of particular social groups. One key recommendation of the National Food Strategy (2021) was 'trial a Community Eatwell programme' targeted at individuals from low-income households who would benefit from access to fresh produce and food skills training. This workshop will consider how this would work in practice: which organisations should be involved, what resources are required, and how successful outcomes would be determined and measured. The third is a lateral-thinking workshop which will consider any other ways that local authorities could intervene in the food system or influence food behaviours to achieve policy goals. The workshop participants will decide which ideas to explore, but options include 'council-supported agriculture' (adapting the 'community-supported agriculture' model) or local business support using food identity (applying the 'terroir' concept).The impact of these workshops will ultimately depend on the participation of multiple stakeholders who have the capacity and knowledge to bring about strategic change in public food provision and dietary health. Thus, a third objective of this fellowship is to build my professional network so that I can invite key stakeholders to be involved in these discussions. The knowledge production and networking outcomes of these workshops will form the basis for a future funding proposal, which is a fourth objective of the fellowship. A final objective is to develop my teaching experience to progress my career as an academic.