What’s Cooking is an update on all things related to SHUFood: Sheffield Hallam University’s food research cluster, comprising, CHEFS (exploring the socio-cultural dimensions of food and drink), SWEFS (exploring drivers and interventions to address food waste), and SHARe (exploring appetite regulation and modulation). What’s been cooking since our last edition?
The highlight of the past two months was surely 24th April, with an all-day bonanza showcasing Sheffield Hallam food-focused students and staff. This included the ‘Food Z’ All Student Conference (featuring speakers Selina Treuherz from ShefFood, Nicola Davies from New Food Innovation, and Jessica Martin from Inspired Global Cuisine), a farewell event for our final year Food and Nutrition/Human Nutrition and Health/Nutrition, Diet and Wellbeing students, and events with professional bodies IFST and Nutrition Society (including a talk from CEO Mark Hollingsworth). We wrapped up the day with an external facing ‘SHUFood Discourse‘ event that put three fabulous speakers into multi-disciplinary conversation about their food research: Graham Finlayson (University of Leeds) on the topic of sugar replacement and appetite, Megan Blake (University of Sheffield) on the ontological status of surplus food, and Benedetta Cappellini (Durham University) on foodcare and mothers’ food practices. Huge thanks to Sheffield Business School (and the ‘responsible consumption and sustainable lives’ theme) for financial support for the event. You can read all about the day in this blog post, written by two of our marvellous ‘Food and Nutrition Student Champions,’ Iman Batrisyia and Macy Wong, both 3rd Year BSc Food and Nutrition students. We’re so proud of, and grateful to our F&N Student Champions, who have been vital partners in all of our events this year!
April also saw the launch of online SHUFood chats, a recurrent series of drop-in meetings aimed at Sheffield-based SHUFood members. Organised and hosted by Jordan Beaumont, the meetings are informal opportunities to come together, share our ongoing research, discuss successes and challenges, troubleshoot and sense check ideas, explore collaboration…and chat about anything to do with research! Details about the next chat on 3rd June can be found below (in the ‘Resources and Calls for Papers’ section). Huge thanks to Jordan for keeping this F&N tradition alive, and for capturing all the amazing updates for this newsletter.
Lastly: Gareth Roberts, one of our intrepid food-focused GTA PhD students here at Hallam, has recently updated on his PhD journey: check out his blog post here. This latest instalment spans the relativity of time, exciting recent highlights in Sheffield’s sustainable food scene from Gareth’s unique vantage point, and the ongoing development of his PhD research including (as is so often the case) embracing the serendipity of finding your research focus.
Below, we have:
- updates on recent outputs and activities from our clusters and members;
- resources and calls for papers (including a link for the next SHUFood Research Chat, 3 June);
- the usual call for contributions and content for the mid-July 2024 edition of What’s Cooking. The deadline for submissions (research news and updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to Google Form by Monday 15 July.
Cheers,
The SHUFood Team!
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Updates
Caroline Westwood was recently invited to speak at the Welsh Annual Conference for the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations (ASAO) which is the trade body and ‘voice of agricultural show industry’. The attendees were show organisers, show managers, operations managers representing all sizes of shows across Wales. This annual event highlights best practice and addresses challenges within the sector with all things related to agricultural events across Wales. Caroline spoke about her research which focuses on the experience of attendees at these events, the importance and value they place on attendance and how these events have been a vital platform, connecting the non-farming community and general public with food and farming. Research suggests these are the key elements of these events the attendees really value, to understand where food comes from and learn more about the agricultural industry in the UK. Caroline continues to work with various rural events across the UK to conduct research at their events, investigating all aspects of these events.
In April the Food and Nutrition subject group, led by Jenny Paxman, held a fantastic foodie development day – packed with exciting events including the Food and Nutrition All Student Conference, PSRB events, SHUFood Annual Discourse and networking opportunities – bringing together students, academics and industry experts. Check out the event blog post written by our fantastic Food and Nutrition Student Champions, Macy Wong and Iman Batrisyia.
There are lots of exciting collaborative projects on the go, involving colleagues from across and SHU, SHUFood and beyond!
A NIHR-funded project exploring the scope and scale of dark kitchens, led by Jordan Beaumont and Lucie Nield, working with Helen Martin, Simon Bowles, Jo Pearce, Claire Wall, Rachel Rundle and David Harness, is in full swing. Currently interviewing dark kitchen owners and managers (led by Helen and David), which is proving interesting and exciting, with a few trips down a rabbit hole… They have recently completed data collection for an online survey around consumer perceptions of dark kitchens and are now looking to run focus groups to further explore perceptions (led by Jordan and Lucie). Also running an online survey (led by Jo and Rachel) and follow-up interviews (led by Claire and Simon) with planning, environmental health and public health teams within local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West. Lots of really interesting data being collected!
Caroline Millman is currently deep into a sabbatical and focussing on getting research done, amongst trying (despite being thwarted at every turn) to get the RIPEN-funded project looking at chickpea flour and impact on satiety and glucose response up and running – Anna Sorsby is doing an amazing job at keeping things on track – currently recruiting a casual research associate to support the work. Also working on a lot of cheese with the Natures Richness Group and FermIQ and sauces for Premier, not to mention trying to get things tidied and sorted for the apprenticeship research work.
Helen, along with a colleague at Edge Hill, just resubmitted a paper on food and alcohol disturbance (FAD) to Public Health Nutrition. Plans are also in motion for a project on the back of January’s BTE Red Day – working with Antonio Feteira, Hywel Jones, Dean Maragh, Emily Moorlock and Christine O’Leary – focussing on reducing excess food and electronic waste; they’re looking to organise an event in July to bring together external stakeholders, using their expertise and knowledge on the ground, to help with idea generation in preparation for bid funding.
Jordan, David, Pallavi Singh, Ruth Whiteside, Amanze Ejiogu, Hessam Jahangiri, and Freselam Kassa are working on a project around surplus food/food waste, which also came out of the BTE Red Day in January.
Megan Flint is in the midst of revising a paper for phase two of the PhD, focussing on sensory analysis of meat-based products and plant-based meat alternatives (with Jenny Paxman, Simon Bowles and Tony Lynn), looking to target Food Quality and Preference and hoping to submit soon. Megan is also continuing analysis on phase one of the PhD, which explores consumer perceptions and drivers/barriers of meat and plant-based meat alternatives using different segmentation theories to explore whether different population groups experience different drivers/barriers to engagement with these products. On to the results, which is involving lots of SPSS.
Jenny is enjoying reading Meg’s paper while trying to decide what samples to send for bench-based analysis of plant-based burger products (with Meg, Simon and Tony) and planning next year’s dissertation allocation. Still awaiting outcome of a very exciting Horizon bid with lots of EU collaborators, and chatting with colleagues at Cambridge Street Collective – hoping to don a hard hat to visit the team and explore potential future collaborations. Exploring a ESRC/FOSS event with SHUFood cluster leads (Jen Smith Maguire, Jordan and Pallavi), bringing on board lots of exciting partners… more detail coming soon!
Jo Pearce and Claire Wall have launched into their latest work looking at packed lunches in early year settings. Currently going out to schools to record food consumption, which is proving an intensive data collection period, going into schools every day. The final paper from their prior study, which estimates greenhouse gas emissions from meal provisions in early years settings using the Food Print add on for Nutritics, has been provisionally accepted in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful with a recent NIHR grant application exploring food provision in special schools. Jo is also revisiting a paper with a former colleague at Nottingham, which explore maternal and infant (6-12 months) dietary intake. With a particular focus on iodine, baby-led weaning and consumption during the complementary feeding period, the paper will potentially explore whether mother’s micronutrient intake predicts the infant’s micronutrient intake.
Jordan, Lucie and Elysa Ioannou (along with two masters students and an external collaborator) have had a paper accepted by Frontiers in Public Health on the evaluation of short-term funding in tier two weight management services in Yorkshire and the Humber. Jordan has a further two further manuscripts under review, one on disordered eating and the other around access/use of natural green space and impact on psychological wellbeing in South Asian populations.
A study looking at the effects of combined transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and inhibitory training on eating behaviour and food consumption in those with mild-to-moderate binge eating behaviour, which is a continuation of Jordan’s PhD research and makes good use of internal research funding. The project involves external collaborators with some exciting future plans for this work, including playing with GIANT datasets…
Jordan, Lucie and a range of collaborators are taking a “deep dive” into the lived experience of obesity of minoritised groups. Funded by the Hallam Fund, this project looks to recruit up to 20 individuals with lived experience of obesity who are from ethnic, gender or sexual minority groups to complete a semi-structured interview and focus groups.
Jordan, Lucie and Pallavi are looking to validate the Nutrition Literacy (NLIT) questionnaire in an adolescent population; data collection is almost complete (just waiting for the final participants to complete their second questionnaire), and soon onto analysis.
Jenny and Jordan are working on a plethora of studies around food addiction – currently recruiting participants for a survey exploring perceptions of food addiction (feel free to complete: https://shusls.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eKClPRb4PiJXejc), recruited an intern to conduct a systematic review, and have shortlisted GTA candidates (interviews at the end of the month).
Hayley Grinter, Pallavi and Rachel Marsden are working on a pilot study exploring behaviours around food waste of families with children who are neurodiverse – considering priorities, thoughts and attitudes around food waste. The study will involve interviewing parents or carers from 10 households. Recruitment is starting tomorrow (keep an eye out and please share!) with potential next steps being explored.
PUBLICATIONS
Badjona, A., Bradshaw, R., Millman, C., Howarth, M., & Dubey, B. (2024). Structural, thermal, and physicochemical properties of ultrasound-assisted extraction of faba bean protein isolate (FPI). Journal of Food Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2024.112082
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Resources and Calls for Papers
SHUFood Research Chats are monthly online meetings that offer a space to talk all things research: showcase work, provide updates, discuss plans, explore collaborations… You can bring along updates to share, or just come along to see what everyone else is up to—all are welcome. Please email Dr Jordan Beaumont (j.beaumont@shu.ac.uk) if you need more information. The next SHUFood chat will be Monday, 03 June, 16:00 to 17:00. Open to all Hallam staff and PGR students who are members of the SHUFood clusters. Join the Teams meeting here.
Prof. Dianne Dean, Dr Pallavi Singh and Dr Scott Jones are editing a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management, on ‘Ignored or Invisible: Challenges to recruiting and researching members of marginalised communities’ – if you have any work with marginalised communities, consider submitting! Deadline is 29 July 2024. The journal’s call for papers has more information here: https://www.jmmnews.com/marginalised-communities/
Calls for papers for upcoming special issues in Appetite:
- Food insecurity, obesity and the cost-of-living crisis (deadline 30 June 2024)
- The effects of climate change on food intake, appetite and dietary choices (deadline 30 August 2024)
More info: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/appetite/about/call-for-papers
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Call for content for the next edition of What’s Cooking
The next edition of What’s Cooking will be mid-July. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) by Monday 15 July via this Google Form.
SHUFood blog
Interested in writing a blog post? These are usually 800-1200 words and written for a general audience in an informal style. Blogs can revisit work you’ve already done (e.g., highlighting a recent output/publication); discuss research or research-related activities (teaching, public engagement, etc.) that you are working on; offer your informed take on contemporary food/drink issues or policy; provide a profile on your research. If you’d like to contribute a piece, please get in touch with Jen (j.smith1@shu.ac.uk).
Want to stay updated? Follow us on X: @SHUFood. You can also subscribe to the blog and/or join our Jisc email list: see information on the very bottom of each SHUFood blog page.