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?
We are excited to announce that we’re officially joining forces with the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE). We’ll be building on a strong foundation of collaboration (remember our fabulous ‘Sustainable Food and Drink’ event?), and a shared commitment to developing innovative, practical solutions to real world problems, focused on food and drink systems and sectors. Working together offers multi-disciplinary complementarity: as a wider group, we are better equipped to take a problem-led approach to food-focused research, innovation and knowledge exchange.
We’re looking forward to bringing our SHUFood and NCEFE communities together. Three upcoming events to have on your radar:
- The return of our fantastic SHUFood monthly online research chats. These informal meetings are for Hallam-based SHUFood and NCEFE folks (staff and PGR students) to talk about food/drink 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! Next date: Monday 7 October, 15:30 to 16:30 (joining link). Please email Dr Jordan Beaumont (j.beaumont@shu.ac.uk) if you need more information.
- The NCEFE research seminar series of 2024/25 is kicking off on Thursday 3 October, 14:00-15:00 (in person at NCEFE), with a talk from NCEFE researchers Dr Mahdi Rashvand and Aida Daei. Seminars are an excellent opportunity to meet in person with Hallam’s food-focused research community, and to check out NCEFE’s beautiful, state-of-the-art facility.
- On 16 October, NCEFE marks its fifth anniversary. Please come and join the celebration, and help shape our vision for the future! Registration link here; full event info and registration link below.
Below, we have:
- NCEFE Anniversary invitation (16 October, 9.45-1.45)
- updates on recent outputs and activities from our clusters and members, including an upcoming event at the ESRC Festival of Social Science, “Cook & Connect: Strengthening Communities Through Food” on November 4 and 5;
- resources and calls for papers;
- the usual call for contributions and content for the mid-November 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 Tuesday 12 November.
Cheers,
The SHUFood Team!
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National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE)
Anniversary Invitation
Hello academic colleagues!
We’re celebrating five years of excellence on the 16th October and we’re inviting you to join us.
This event is an opportunity for you to connect with external organisations from within the food sector and find out how you could collaborate and develop your RIKE profile further.
If you’re thinking, “I already work with you!” - we would be thrilled for you to join in the success celebration – sign up here.
If you’re thinking, “my research doesn’t relate to food”, allow us to convince you otherwise!
Why food?
- Globally: The global food system is challenged with feeding a growing population. By 2050, food production will need to increase by 60% to meet population growth.
- Nationally: The food and drink manufacturing sector is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK; greater than aerospace and automotive combined.
- Locally: Tackling health inequalities and furthering preventative health are high on the South Yorkshire agenda – diet is an essential part of the solution to address these challenges.
Is my academic expertise relevant?
Most academic disciplines are directly aligned with challenges in the food system. As well as more traditional areas of research and innovation associated with food such as food science and technology, engineering, nutrition, this can be expanded to public health, environmental science and ecology, business, psychology, education, geography and the creative arts…and probably many more.
If you’re someone who is not sure where the fit might be, why not attend and find out more?
- Develop relationships with external stakeholders
- Find out how food and drink may enhance your RIKE profile
- Find out how to work more closely with colleagues around the university with shared interests around food
- Discover more about NCEFE
- Have an innovation conversation over lunch
Have we convinced you? Good 😊 – register here: Registration Form
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Cluster Updates
Following the success of FOSS 2023, Jordan Beaumont is organising an event for FOSS 2024 on behalf of SHUFood. Working with colleagues at the University of Sheffield, the event will centre around cooking classes with a focus on healthy, sustainable and accessible recipes. The classes will be open to members of the general public, with one focussing on SEND students and care leavers. Further details:
Cook & Connect: Strengthening Communities Through Food
Monday 4th November and Tuesday 5th November
Blend Culinary Foundation Kitchen, Cambridge Street Collective
Led by Healthy Soil, Healthy Food and Healthy People (H3 project) and Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (staff from the University of Sheffield and University of Leeds) and the Sheffield Hallam University Food (SHUFood) Research Clusters.
A free cooking class using delicious, nutritious and affordable ingredients.
Looking for tasty, nutritious, budget-friendly meal ideas? Want to try using more beans and lentils but don’t know where to start? Packed with nutrition and incredibly easy to cook, these foods can transform your meals without breaking the bank.
Come along and learn how to cook a variety of easy, new dishes with simple, cheap and versatile ingredients – let’s cook up some deliciousness together!
Further updates:
August saw the end of the NIHR-funded project exploring “dark kitchens” led by Lucie Nield and Jordan Beaumont, working with Simon Bowles, Rachel Rundle, Helen Martin, Jo Pearce, Claire Wall and David Harness. The team explored consumer understanding of and engagement with dark kitchens, how local authorities identify and regulate these businesses, and how dark kitchens themselves view their role in response to public health, environmental health and planning priorities. The project culminated in a stakeholder event held at the end of August, which was live scribed by Nifty Fox. Initial findings from the consumer work package have recently been submitted for publication, so keep an eye out for more updates!
Jordan and Lucie also presented some of their other work at the Yorkshire Obesity Research Alliance (YORA) Conference in early September. The talk, “We’re one small piece of the puzzle”: Evaluating the impact of short-term funding for tier two weight management services, explores how local authorities use government funding to support weight management in adults.
Two new PhD students have been recruited to work with Dr Tony Lynn, Professor Mayur Ranchordas and Ruth Whiteside and are due to start at the beginning of October. These are match-funded by Aston Villa. One student will be looking at the gut microbiome in footballers in relation to health and performance and modulating it with fermented food products, the other will be investigating sleep hygiene in players and looking at various interventions to try and improve sleep. The projects also include collaboration with gut microbiologists from the University of Leeds. After much delay the team have also recruited a research assistant to work on the SHRIF2 project on the effect of kefir on the gut microbiome.
Dr Jordan Beaumont, Dr Rachel Marsden and Professor Peter Schofield will be welcoming a GTA in October, who will be exploring food addiction and the potential role in weight management. This will involve continuing Jordan’s prior research around non-invasive brain stimulation as a tool to modulate eating behaviour.
Dr Caroline Millman (PI) and Susie Jones (Co-I) have just received notification of £55k funding from the RIPEN Innovation Hub Mobility Award for Jessica Limb – Exploring perceptions and practicalities for salt reduction in bread. The project will start 04 November 2024 for 9 months and will involve industrial partners AB Mauri and NFI.
There have also been several publications from SHUFood members over the summer months, including:
Abiodun-Adeniyi, M.A., Waterhouse, B., & Rundle, R. (2024). Holiday Hunger and Family Stress: the experience of household food insecurity during the school summer holidays. The Student Journal of Service Sector Management Research, 1(3), 15-36. https://studentjournals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/SJSSM/article/view/153
Badjona, A., Bradshaw, R., Millman C., Howarth, M., & Dubey, B. (2024). Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of faba bean protein isolate: Structural, functional, and thermal properties. Part 1/2, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, DOI:10.2139/ssrn.4846897
Badjona, A., Bradshaw, R., Millman C., Howarth, M., & Dubey, B. (2024). Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of faba bean protein isolate: Structural, functional, and thermal properties. Part 2/2, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2024.107030
Beaumont, J.D., & Sreelekha, V.N. (2024). The influence of nutrition knowledge on the self-regulation of eating. The Student Journal of Service Sector Management Research, 1(3), 37-53. https://studentjournals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/SJSSM/article/view/154
Beaumont, J. (2024). Exploring the continuum of eating behaviour, from ‘normal’ to disordered eating. Nursing Standard. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2024.e12354
Gurton, W.H., Gough, L.A., Siegler, J.C., Lynn, A. & Ranchordas, M. (2024). Oral but Not Topical Sodium Bicarbonate Improves Repeated Sprint Performance During Simulated Soccer Match Play Exercise in Collegiate Athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.
Hamza, M., Edwards, R.C., Beaumont, J.D., De Pretto, L. and Torn, A. (2024). Access to Natural Green Spaces and their Associations with Psychological Wellbeing for South Asian People in the UK: A Systematic Literature Review. Social Science & Medicine, 117265. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117265
Wall, C. & Pearce, J. (2024). Greenhouse gas emissions of school lunches provided for children attending school nurseries: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.13345
Waterhouse, B., Abiodun-Adeniyi, M.A., & Rundle, R. (2024). Families Experiences of Household Food Insecurity during the School Summer Holidays; a qualitative analysis from a behavioural perspective using the COM-B model. The Student Journal of Service Sector Management Research, 1(3), 1-14. https://studentjournals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/SJSSM/article/view/152
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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. Next date: Monday 07 October 2024, 15:30 to 16:30 Please email Dr Jordan Beaumont (j.beaumont@shu.ac.uk) if you need more information. Open to all Hallam SHUFood and NCEFE staff and PGR students. Join the Teams meeting here.
International Sociological Association session – call for abstracts (15 October deadline)
The ISA is hosting its 5th ISA Forum, July 6-11, 2025 in Morocco. The conference theme is ‘Knowing Justice in the Anthropocene’, within which John Lever is organising the session: ‘Towards a Just Transition: Historical Food Related Processes in the Anthropocene’. Session abstract here and below. Full abstract submission information here.
The climate crisis is not simply about changing the climate, it is about how we see ourselves in relation to a wide range of interconnected issues, many of which revolve around food. Recognition of the interplay between historical and contemporary food related processes is key to understanding these issues and developing fair and just responses. While the process of civilisation identified by Elias is largely unplanned, civilising offensives are organised campaigns that seek to educate people and bring about the changes in behaviour required to develop appropriate solutions. Nevertheless, some of these campaigns can be exclusionary, as in attempts to civilise certain groups in relation to consumption practices that make them more like ‘us.’ In line with changes in what Elias (1991) referred to as the We-I balance, this session welcomes papers that explore the interplay between unintended processes and planned food related campaigns. How can we, as Smith Maguire (2024) asks, achieve a better balance between I and we-identities that leads to more emotionally nourishing accounts of ‘we-ness.’ We welcome papers that fuse insights from Elias’s work with other theoretical traditions. Session Organizer: John LEVER, SES, Business School, United Kingdom; Manchester Metropolitan University John.lever@mmu.ac.uk
Spain Gastronomy Conference – call for abstracts (15 October deadline)
The theme of the Spain Gastronomy Conference is “Reframing Gastronomy.” The event, organized by the Royal Academy of Gastronomy of Spain in collaboration with the CEU University Institute of Food and Society, will take place on 21-23 November 2024, in the facilities of the CEU San Pablo University, Madrid. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 October. Full details here: https://spaingastronomyconference.com/conference-organization/
Special Issue Call for Abstracts: Meat Narratives (30 September deadline)
Special issue of the journal Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, interested in narratives created and constructed around meat, across disciplines and theories. The editor of “Meat Narratives” is a meat reductionist but this does not affect this special issue: positive accounts of meat are welcomed. The final aim is to obtain a wide range of perspectives on meat narratives and the roles that meat plays in them. The working language is English. Please send queries or an abstract of up to 300 words plus a short biography to Professor Francesco Buscemi at francesco.buscemi@unicatt.it.
Deadline for abstracts: September 30, 2024
Notification of acceptance: October 31, 2024
Submission of articles (6.000-8.000 words): April 30, 2025
Pinot Noir and Identity Symposium (30 November deadline)
The Pinot Noir and Identity Symposium, 10-11 July 2025, University of Oxford, St Cross College, is the inaugural event organised by the Pinot Noir Project – a hub for knowledge exchange bringing researchers from a wide range of disciplines together with wine makers and industry representatives for collaboration, consultation and participation focused on this grape variety. Our first international symposium aims to bring attention to Pinot Noir’s unique place in the world of wine by examining how Pinot Noir’s identity has been constructed over the centuries. We invite researchers to explore not only the origins and evolution of its status, reputation, and mythology, but also to envisage how these aspects of its identity might be reconstructed in new environmental and commercial contexts.
Submissions (papers, work-in-progress papers, practitioner reflections) are welcome, as are contributions from any discipline. All submissions should primarily address the social, cultural or historical aspects of the wine’s production and consumption to enable interdisciplinary discussion and knowledge exchange. Further information including submission guidelines can be found at: https://www.thepinotnoirproject.org/events-2-1. For any questions or further information, please contact thepinotnoirproject@gmail.com
Submission deadline: 30th November 2024
Acceptance notification by: 31st January 2025
Registration opens: 1st February 2025
Early Bird registration deadline: 1st May 2025
Final registration deadline: 1st June 2025
Publication opportunity for food, food history, cookery, cookery books.
Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC) is an international journal on food, food history, cookery and cookery books published three times per year by Equinox. It accepts book reviews (and is actively looking for book reviewers), essays, commentary pieces, and research articles. They also have a short news section at the start of each printed issue (e.g., to publicize an event or conference). To discuss a potential contribution, please contact the editor, Sam Bilton. Submissions should be made through the submissions portal on the journal website where you can find author guidelines https://journal.equinoxpub.com/ppc/about/submissions or email the editor if you have questions at sjfbilton@gmail.com.
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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-November. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) by Tuesday 12 November 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.