We welcome members at any level from across the University and research community, including professional service staff as well as members from the broader Bristol community in line with the Civic University values.
New members join the mailing list and are invited to participate in internal events where we share evolving research, as well as external events.
We have a Core Committee which is responsible for planning and decision making for the network. We are also connected with the University of Bristol Cabot Institute where Food is a thematic area of research interest.
Collaboration is important to us, and we seek to build relationships with non-academic actors, such as civil society groups in the City of Bristol. This local connection is important for us, alongside maintaining awareness of global affairs and events.
Bristol Researchers’ Food Justice Network – Core Committee
Lauren Blake (lauren.blake@bristol.ac.uk)
Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Geographical Sciences & Director, Bristol Food Network
Focus: Interconnections between environmental, human, animal and societal health in agrifood systems, principally UK and Latin America. Draws on anthropology, geography and interdisciplinary research. Key topics include: tensions between farming and conservation; agroextractivism; antimicrobial resistance in food systems; malnutrition, diet/nutrition transitions and food security; indigenous knowledge and biocultural heritage; food system resilience (e.g. to climate change, conflict, pandemics); food activism; food and identity.
Jonny Beacham j.beacham@bristol.ac.uk
Research Fellow, School of Management, UoB Business School
Focus: Sociologist currently working on a UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) funded project exploring the ‘transformation’ of the UK’s agri-food system(s). Current research interests mainly orientated around the politics of environmental sustainability, the relationship between the domains of ‘production’ and ‘consumption’ and the governance of dietary change in an international context.
Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo daniel.enriquez@bristol.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Dairy Production, Veterinary School
Focus: Dairy and beef systems and production; rumen function and methane emissions. Notably, sustainable and regenerative grass-based systems, herbage management and sustainability, production and quality aspects like nitrogen fertilizer application, mixed swards species dynamics and nitrogen fixation. Related aspects, e.g. weaning techniques, behaviour, herbage utilization and supplementation, feed efficiency, milk production and quality. Interested in strategies to transform the food sector for more sustainable practices and products.
Lucy McCarthy lucy.mccarthy@bristol.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Management, UoB Business School
Focus: Transitions to ecologically resilient and socially equitable agri-food supply chains; engaged methodologies; marginalised communities.
Lydia Medland (lydia.medland@bristol.ac.uk)
Research Fellow, SPAIS (School of Sociology, Politics & International Studies)
Focus: ‘5 a day’ UK produce (see project here), Morocco/Spain and tomatoes, concept of seasonality, concept of enclaves (agro-industrial food production hubs), issue of migrant and other workers’ rights and experiences in agriculture.
Jess Paddock jessica.paddock@bristol.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, SPAIS (School of Sociology, Politics & International Studies)
Focus: Exploring everyday food practices – how does understanding how people eat (not just what they eat) and access/provision diets help us to think about better interventions than those targeted at individual consumer behaviour changes (which typically rely on targeting attitudes and beliefs). Work on this is in response to food insecurities understood as lack of access to culturally appropriate food in the Caribbean and also in the UK.
Rob Skinner Robert.Skinner@bristol.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Modern History, Department of History
Focus: Histories of transnational activism, ideas of human rights and justice; also interested in the relationships between activist ideologies and everyday practices. Currently researching the activities of the London Food Commission and other advocacy groups focused on food systems, health, diet and policy in the late 20th century. But most of the published work has focused on histories of global anti-apartheid activism and international solidarity (maintains close contacts with academic networks in South Africa).