Tagged / Jeff Bray

Food for Thought for Parliament: Presenting Consumer Insights to All Party Parliamentary Group

BU research, Featured, Knowledge Exchange, parliament, policy

Professor in Consumer Behaviour Jeff Bray writes about his experiences presenting his research to an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)… 

Earlier this term I received an unsolicited invitation to attend Parliament and present my research to an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). It was the first time that I received such a request and immediately viewed it with suspicion, imagining that it could be some kind of predatory conference or publication using Parliament logos improperly. But after some online checking, it did appear genuine and interesting, so I accepted the invitation.

I was invited to share my thoughts on ‘Behaviour Change’ to the Food and Health APPG. The brief was as open as that and no further guidance was forthcoming regarding likely group size, expectations or requirements. So, it was with a degree of uncertainty that on Tuesday I travelled to London with my notes, hoping that I had judged the audience and expectations correctly. I share some reflections here in the hope that it could provide others with a little guidance and confidence in similarly delivering such briefings for the first time.

I arrived in good time having been warned that getting through the airport style security could take 45mins +.  I then seemingly had the run of the place and was able to wander freely. I found the public viewing gallery in the House of Lords to be a warm spot to sit for 30mins looking through my notes, but I was distracted by the debate – the second reading of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, which given my research field was actually quite interesting!

Finding the committee room was straightforward given the number of security guards around to advise. It was quite easy to forget that the room was filled with MP’s, Lords and Baronesses since there was a real collegial tone (despite being cross party) and definitely the discussion was more friendly and less combative than I’ve observed at some academic conferences.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience but would have done so more, had I have known a bit better what to expect in advance. There are APPGs on a wide range of topics – the most recent register of groups is available here:  APPG register.  If there is a group that is closely linked to your expertise I believe it would be possible to contact the ‘Public enquiry point’ e-mail address and offer to present your work or just attend one of their sessions for interest.

European research project to promote local food purchasing and reduce food waste

BU research, EU, Featured, Research communication

A new European research project will enable consumers to find and buy local food supplies, reducing waste and supporting sustainable purchases.

FoodMAPP logoThe FoodMAPP project – being led in the UK by Bournemouth University (BU) – will develop a searchable map-based platform that will enable consumers to search and buy food products directly from local suppliers.

Currently within Europe food is transported, on average, 171km from farm to fork. 26 per cent of global carbon emissions come from food and large volumes of food are wasted.

The FoodMAPP project aims to address these challenges by enabling consumers to identify and purchase local sources of food in real time to shorten supply chains and reduce food waste, while also providing additional sustainable income to food producers and providers.

A consortium of European partners, comprising academic partners in Croatia, Hungary, Spain and Belgium and industry partners in France & Austria will support the project.

BU’s involvement in FoodMAPP will be led by Associate Professor Jeff Bray and supported by an interdisciplinary research team from across the university including Professor Katherine Appleton, Professor Juliet Memery, Dr Roberta Discetti and Dr Vegard Engen.

Dr Bray said: “Our current food supply system is not sustainable both in terms of its ability to reliably provide the right nutrition for a growing world population and in terms of the environmental footprint of current practices.”

“The project aims to transform local food supply reducing food miles, reducing food waste and increasing localised food supply resilience.”

The FoodMAPP project team gathered outside a building

The FoodMAPP project team

BU led on the development of the four-year project, which has been awarded €584,200 from Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, alongside additional funding from UKRI to support BU’s continued inclusion.

The European coordinator is Associate Professor Vinko Lešić from Zagreb University (Croatia) and partners include Ghent University (Belgium), Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) and CREDA (Centre for agro-food economics and development, Spain) alongside partners from the food industry – Institute Paul Bocuse (France) and Ronge & Partner (Austria).