Third Exeter Food Network pechakucha seminar

Molly Rose Bond Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Following Stevia (Ka’a he’ê): Indigenous herb to cash DNA. Un-earthing lab-grown food futures.

Little has been researched around the impacts of novel biosynthetic plant replicas upon established plant and agri/cultural knowers, growers and users. In this talk I present some findings from my forthcoming monograph ethnogrpahicallyfollowing the Stevia rebaudiana plant - first known as Ka’a he’ê - from the centre of UN governance debates over the impacts of synthetic biology lab-grown ingredients, and out into the Industrial, Indigenous and agricultural worlds unescapably entangled with it. I reflect upon the kind of joined up, multi-sited, postdisiplinary methods capable of comprehending the breadth and complexity brought about by novel biotechnological food innovation. And the extractivism, 'externalities', and indirect impacts in 'food system' peripheries overlooked in (reductionist) assesments of sustainability and promissory narratives of molecular food authenticity.  

As this project comes to a close, I am keen to explore new research ideas and collaborations around plants, and the stories they tell about food systems and agrarian futures more broadly.

Tim Taylor Associate Professor in Environmental and Public Health Economics

The Food, Health and Environment Nexus: Perspectives from an Economist

Drawing on evidence from past and ongoing research, the linkages between food consumption, health and the environment are discussed. What is the influence of education and knowledge of health risks on diets? How will climate change impact on food borne health risks?

Naomi Sykes The Lawrence Professor of Archaeology

Fair Game: valuing the bio-cultural heritage of fallow deer and their venison for food security, sustainable woodlands and biodiversity

Fallow deer are an icon of the British landscape and an important part of the island’s bio-cultural heritage. Modern populations descend from deer introduced around 1000AD as part of a medieval hunting culture. The species is now more numerous than at any point in the past and they are overgrazing landscapes and prohibiting woodland regeneration, to the detriment of their population's welfare and broader biodiversity. This talk will outline a new project that is resuscitating medieval deer management practices to benefit nature regeneration and equitable food systems.

Andy Cunliffe Oppenheimer Senior Research Fellow and African Landscape Systems Programme Leader

Understanding social-ecological system (in)stability with remote sensing, supporting environmental sustainability in Africa, and a funding finder to enhance global collaboration.

• Some of the work that we’re doing in my Terrestrial Ecosystems Science and Services(TESS) Lab, especially opportunities for collaboration on using multiscale remote sensing to understand rangelands and inform landscape management.
• Our work in the Oppenheimer Programme in African Landscape Systems (OPALS), which aims to help Exeter appropriately contribute to more sustainable interactions between people and nature across Africa, and finally  
• Briefly highlighting the Finding Finder I’ve made, which signposts hundreds of funding opportunities to support talented people to join our learning and research communities and undertake exchanges.