Food and Drink is a hugely important sector for Scotland and the UK economy, generating a turnover of £14.4 billion and £5.3 billion of GVA (gross value added) for the Scottish economy in 2014 alone. This sector not only has an impact on Scotland’s economy but food production can also has a significant influence on our environment, health and society and these are all areas that SEFARI research aims to a make a difference.
David's work is concerned with sustainable and healthy diets, and how behaviour change may be accomplished in all parts of the food system. He is currently studying the pathways to healthy and sustainable diets in Scotland. Using a wide toolkit of qualitative methods, David is unpicking the barriers, whether real or perceived, to diet change.
Previously, he has worked in the University of Aberdeen Environmental Modelling Group, looking at agricultural practices in China and Ethiopia.
Oana is currently a research fellow at the Rowett Institute, working on a project in the 2022-27 SRP that is aiming to optimise approaches to changing food practices and eating behaviour in low-income populations via social prescribing to reduce health inequalities. She has extensive knowledge of behaviour change theories, intervention development, experience in developing assessment tools and research experience demonstrating cross-disciplinary integration.
Rowett Institute
Foresterhill
Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD
Ben's current research focuses on sustainability in the food system. With a background in the ecology of disease, and child growth and development, he is interested in the drivers of complex systems and the interplay between people and place. Current projects span the food system from consumer behaviour to agricultural production.
Using statistical analyses, he is examining how whole diets may change if people start to reduce meat consumption using both individual cross-sectional consumption data and longitudinal household purchase data.
I am a Principal Statistician at BioSS and have worked on a wide range of applications of data analysis in health studies, as well as arranging and delivering training in statistics.
More details at http://www.bioss.ac.uk/people/graham.html
Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland
Rowett Institute
University of Aberdeen
Foresterhill
ABERDEEN
AB25 2ZD
Jennie is a Professor in Sustainable Nutrition and Health. Her research is interdisciplinary and about the impact of dietary habits on climate change and land use, with implications for food and nutrition security. This includes understanding eating behaviours in particular how to move people to eating healthy and sustainable diets, especially in the UK. She led the Livewell project funded by the WWF, the first to model sustainable diets that were both nutritionally adequate and had lower impact on climate change.
As our lifestyles, including work patterns, have become more demanding and irregular, our meal patterns have followed suit, with many people eating most of their daily calories in the evening, and having become accustomed to eating what they want, when they want. This is a potential problem since there is increasing evidence that the structure of meal timing may be a factor contributing to the global rise in obesity.
Recent research suggests eating most of our calories in the evening – the pattern most common in the UK – may also be linked to obesity. We’re not alone in eating late. As our lifestyles have become more demanding and irregular, so have our meal patterns. Compared with 30 years ago, more meals are skipped, or eaten on the go, and later in the day.
Blueberries have gained in popularity amongst UK consumers. Currently UK blueberries supply only 5% of demand and there is a huge opportunity to increase home grown supply.
'Protein for Life' is designed to identify and develop guidelines for protein products for healthy ageing (living a better, longer life) that are cost effective, sustainable and enjoyable.
Using a unique multidisciplinary approach we aim to understand current consumer behaviours around protein intake, and barriers and constraints to increasing protein intake in an ageing population.