Professor Dianne Dean is Professor of Consumption Values and Practices, in Sheffield Business School. Di and colleague Dr Pallavi Singh, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, lead the SHUFood SWEFS (Surplus, Waste and Excess Food in Society) cluster. Below, Di helps to get into the holiday spirit with some tips on reducing food waste.
Photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash
As we are approach holiday and celebratory events (at whatever time of year!), we encounter the perennial problem on what to do with what’s left of the food we have bought (just in case we need…more cheese, fruit, cream, drinks, sausage meat, etc., etc.). For example, many of us face the question, post-Christmas, of what to do with leftovers once we’ve had the ‘grand reveal’ (as they say in the cookery magazines!) of the succulent turkey and all the trimmings.
Rather than just ignore what is in the fridge and pretending it isn’t there (or waiting until it grows teeth and tries to jump out and get you!), we can look to try to save some of the food from going to landfill, biowaste dumps or wherever your local council deals with food waste. Plus, it saves money!!
Let’s save those councils some work (and again money) by thinking creatively about how we can use up the stuff in the fridge. Turkey curry is often the go-to recipe, but there are many other exciting and tasty options. For some, it might be preferable to have something quick to prepare, after the exhausting work that goes into making Christmas such a memorable event (well, that’s the plan). For others, they might want to use up leftovers in a more creative way, honing their skills as they dream of appearing on MasterChef.
Below are a few recipes that offer ideas for using up surplus food, reducing food waste, and helping the planet—and saving money into the bargain.
Some may want warming comfort food during the frequently miserable cold January:
There are also a number of websites that provide tasty leftover recipe ideas, including:
Respect Food is an excellent website that categorises ingredients alphabetically so you can easily find a recipe for almost any type of leftover food.
Good Food Christmas Leftover recipes has a collection of recipes designed to use up food from the Christmas period, from this well-known cookery magazine.
Great British Chefs: the website provides an innovative approach to using up surplus food, including some really nice recipes from some of the top chefs in the country.
I hope these recipes provide some inspiration for using up surplus food and reducing waste. More generally, Pallavi and I are very keen to promote the reduction of food waste in households. We have recently finished a project with Sheffield City Council as they trialled a new household food waste collection service. After interviewing a number of people in the pilot areas, we found that there was pride in using the new bin correctly and placing it out for collection. We also found that many people were actively seeking to reduce waste and were disappointed when the trial period was completed. We hope the research we conducted will help SCC provide a clean and efficient system for collecting food waste, and maximise its value.
Finally, we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Enjoy your cooking!
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?
Check out our recent blog posts about two events we ran in October:
‘Picturing Good Food’ ESRC Festival of Social Science event: a merry band of SHUFood-ies and Food and Nutrition Student Champions (all from Sheffield Business School) delivered an event in for the 2023 ESRC Festival of Social Science, in Sheffield’s Winter Garden. Perfectly timed to coincide with Sheffield schools’ half-term holiday, the event offered four hands-on activities for kids (and parents!) of all ages, inspired by the range of food-related research we do across our three food research clusters around attitudes to eating, plant-based foods, and food waste.
CHEFS/SWEFS/SHARe PGR and ECR Food Research Seminar: three research presentations with some lively Q&A, featuring CHEFS visiting PhD student Andrey Sgorla, SWEFS GTA PhD student Ufuoma Arangebi, and SHARe ECR lecturer Jordan Beaumont. Full titles and abstracts on the blog page (link above).
The Festival of Social Science event also marked the debut of our new banners, reflecting all three of our clusters.
Below, we have:
updates on recent outputs and activities from across the three clusters;
resources and calls for papers;
the usual call for contributions and content for the January 2024 edition of What’s Cooking. Our newsletter has moved to alternate mid-months: the deadline for submissions (research news and updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to Google Form by Friday 12 January.
Cheers,
The SHUFood Team!
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Cluster Updates
SHUFood and the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) are teaming up to deliver a research event as part of Sheffield’s Local Food Action Plan on 7 December. ‘Sustainable Food and Drink: An immersive tasting and learning event’ is aimed at the general public, and designed to help people think differently about sustainable food and drink. Participants will hear about some of the many ways in which Sheffield Hallam research is addressing sustainability in the food and drink sector; test their knowledge with a sustainability quiz while sampling sustainable wine and canapés; and enjoy a mini tutored tasting featuring sustainable wine and whiskey. Places are limited (and restricted to those over 18 years of age) and registration is required by 30 November. Information and registration here.
Congratulations to Caroline Millman for funding success: Caroline is PI on the successful ‘Structural design of more satiating foods’ bid to the BBSRC RIPEN Hub scheme.
Congratulations on recent publications and conference activities (SHUFoodies: Jordan Beaumont, Lucie Nield):
Beaumont, J.D., Dalton, M., Davis, D., Finlayson, G., Nowicky, A., Russell, M., & Barwood, M. (2023). No effect of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on food craving, food reward and subjective appetite in females displaying mild-to-moderate binge-type behaviour. Appetite, 189. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106997
Beaumont, J.D., Goodwin, E., Smith, N., Dalton, M., Davis, D., & Barwood, M.J. (2023). Understanding the Perceptions of Brain Stimulation as a Tool for Weight Management. Appetite, 189, 106968. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106968 (conference abstract)
Beaumont, J.D., Wyld, R., Reimann, T., & O’Hara, B. (2023). Exploring the perceptions of health, weight and obesity. Presented at: UK Congress on Obesity 2023, Queens University, Belfast.
Beaumont, J.D., Ioannou, E., Corrigan, N., & Nield, L. (2023). An evaluation of tier 2 weight management services in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Presented at: 30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO), Dublin, 2023
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Resources and Calls for Papers
16th Annual Conference of the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE). Lausanne, Switzerland (July 1-5, 2024). Abstract Submission Deadline: January 31, 2024
Abstracts must be 500–1,200 words long. AAWE membership is required for abstract submissions. Information: www.wine-economics.org
Regional and Local Identities in Drinking Cultures, 8 December 2023, University of Leicester. The Drinking Studies Network (DSN) Identities and Diversity Cluster, and the University of Leicester’s Centre for Regional and Local History, are pleased to share the exciting programme for our workshop on 8 December 2023. All are welcome! Attendance at the workshop is free, but spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To register your attendance, please email Deborah Toner (dt151@le.ac.uk), including details of any dietary and accessibility requirements you have, by Friday 24 November. The programme has four sessions featuring research presentations on: ‘Drinking Places and Identity in the British City,’ ‘Alcohol Consumption and Group Identities,’ ‘Irish Identities and Iconography’ and ‘Regional Dynamics of Mexican Drinks.’
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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-January 2024. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) by Friday 12 January 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 (OK fine, we’ll call it that): @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.
A merry band of SHUFood-ies and Food and Nutrition Student Champions (all from Sheffield Business School) had a brilliant time on 25 October, 2023, delivering ‘Picturing Good Food.’ The event, part of the 2023 ESRC Festival of Social Science, took place in Sheffield’s Winter Garden. Perfectly timed to coincide with Sheffield schools’ half-term holiday, the event offered four hands-on activities for kids (and parents!) of all ages. Inspired by the range of food-related research we do across our three food research clusters, the activities explored the many different ways in which people ‘think and do’ food, in relation to attitudes to eating, plant-based foods, and food waste.
We were delighted to host a food research event on 18 October 2023, focusing on PGRs and ECRs with research that spanned our cluster domains.
We started with a great talk from SBS PhD Tutor Ellen Bennett on CV building, which included sage advice on finding the right balance between opportunities to get involved and broaden your networks, and other commitments (including your PhD!), well-being, home-life balance, and so on. Ellen also provided helpful sign-posts to who to speak to and ways to get involved.
We then had three research presentations with some lively Q&A, featuring CHEFS visiting PhD student Andrey Sgorla, SWEFS GTA PhD student Ufuoma Arangebi, and SHARe ECR lecturer Jordan Beaumont. Full titles and abstracts below.
Thanks to everyone who joined in!
Andrey Sgorla Entrepreneurship fermented in the bottle: The artisan brewer: authenticity, passion and connection to the territory
The growth of craft breweries boosts entrepreneurship, values manual work, and strengthens the local economy. The narratives of master brewers highlight the authenticity of the products, the passion for the work, and the production techniques, emphasizing the origin of the ingredients and the connection with their places of production, conferring uniqueness and quality. Consumers’ growing interest in high-quality beers and unique flavors drives beer tourism and integration into gastronomy. The constant search for new flavors drives the brewing sector. The expansion of hop plantations makes it possible to produce exclusive recipes, emphasizing local identity, fostering innovation in production processes, and creating new styles. At the same time, breweries are adopting sustainable practices, considering raw materials, ingredients, energy, packaging, and waste management, with a view to interconnectedness and environmental responsibility.
Ufuoma Arangebi Intergenerational Cross-Cultural Attitudes Towards Household Food Waste
Food waste has significant social, economic, and environmental implications. The UN has identified curbing waste across the global food supply chain as key to achieving SDG12 which focuses on sustainable food production and consumption. Households are the largest producers, accounting for nearly 50% of the total food waste generated annually, particularly in developed countries. Consequently, understanding attitudes and behaviours towards HFW has become necessary given the significance of curbing food waste in the drive towards global sustainability. This research explores how these attitudes and behaviours towards household food waste are formed through the mechanism of intergenerational transmission and shaped by cultural context by examining the familial food practices of two different cultural settings in Nigerian and British households.
Jordan Beaumont Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in those with mild-to-moderate binge eating behaviour
The abundance of food cues in the environment and the wide availability and low cost of energy-dense, palatable foods are leading contributors to the growing levels of obesity in most societies. These foods are associated with a pleasure response, which increases their consumption and potentiates energy dysregulation by overriding homeostatic mechanisms. Individuals who present with binge eating behaviour, characterised by recurrent episodes of excessive consumption, appear to be hyper-responsive to these food cues and the rewarding aspects of food. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) appears an effective modulator of appetite control in people at risk of overconsumption, however findings are inconsistent. This research aimed to further understand the potential effects of tDCS, and specifically the eating behaviour trait-dependent effect stimulation.
What’s Cooking is an update on all things related to CHEFS: the Culture, Health, Environment, Food and Society research cluster at Sheffield Hallam University. What’s been cooking since our last edition?
CHEFS, SWEFS, and SHARe, our SHU sister food-focused research clusters, are teaming up to deliver an event in the 2023 ESRC Festival of Social Science!
On Wednesday 25 October, 1-2.30 (location TBC), join us for ‘How do people ‘think and do’ food?: Exploring the role of social science research in building healthier, more sustainable, and more enjoyable food practices.’ The event explores the different ways in which people ‘think and do’ food, through three interactive stations demonstrating different domains of social science research on food and food practices. The activities are aimed at parents and kids. Please shout if you’d like to get involved in helping on the day—the more the merrier!
Below, we have:
updates on recent activities (an award for the Handbook of Wine and Culture);
resources: call for papers; Sheffield Food Partnership’s Local Food Action Plan, recently launched;
the usual call for contributions and content for the November 2023 edition of What’s Cooking; deadline for submissions (research news and updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to smith1@shu.ac.uk by Monday 30 October.
Cheers,
Jen
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Recent CHEFS Activities
Jennifer Smith Maguire’s co-edited wine research handbook won the 2023 Award, History Category, from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. The Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture, edited by Steve Charters, Marion Demossier, Jaqueline Dutton, Graham Harding, Jennifer Smith Maguire, Denton Marks, Tim Unwin (2021, Routledge; ISBN: 9780367472900).
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Resources
Stockholm Gastronomy Conference, 23-25 November 2023 (abstract submission deadline, 15 September)
The 3rd European conference on Gastronomy will cover social, economic, psychological, medical, cultural and political dimension of food, meals and eating, as well as aspects of art and design linked to culinary experiences. Abstracts are invited to one of four conference tracks:
Taste, pleasure and delight as levers for sustainable food consumption
Gastronomy according to terroir, place, space and culture
Gastronomy – a powerful force of transformation
Gastronomy – norms, skills, competencies and education
Descriptions of all tracks can be found here. Abstract submission is open until 15 September; early bird registration is open until 29 September (with limited places available for the conference dinner, to be held in the Wasa Museum). Full details on the conference website.
ShefFood Sheffield’s Food Partnership, Next Working Group Events
These are the next working group events
Growing & Compost – Meeting & BBQ – Tues 1st August, 6pm-8pm, Heeley and Meersbrook Allotments (Register to attend here).
Good Food Movement – Meeting & Storytelling workshop -Tuesday 15th August from 1pm to 3pm, Soft Ground 37-40 The Moor Sheffield City Centre S1 4PF (Register to attend here).
Call for content for the next edition of What’s Cooking
The next edition of What’s Cooking will be November 2023. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to j.smith1@shu.ac.uk by 30 October.
CHEFS 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 Twitter (@SHU_CHEFS), subscribe to the blog and/or join our Jisc email list: see information on the very bottom of each CHEFS webpage.
What’s Cooking is an update on all things related to CHEFS: the Culture, Health, Environment, Food and Society research cluster at Sheffield Hallam University. What’s been cooking since our last edition?
We’ve had two fantastic ‘paired papers’ sessions recently, organised by sister foodie clusters:
In May, SWEFS (Surplus Waste and Excess Food in Society) hosted a session on ‘Food Waste and Working with Vulnerable Participants’ with presentations from Professor Dorothy Yen (Brunel University), and from Dr Chrysostomos Apostolidis (Durham University) and Dr David M. Brown (Heriot-Watt University). Recording here
In June, SHARe (Sheffield Hallam Appetite Research) hosted a session on ‘Exploring human appetite and eating behaviour.’ The session, Chaired by Anna Sorsby, featured work presented by Dr Miriam Clegg (University of Reading) and Dr Jordan Beaumont (Sheffield Hallam University). Recording here A more detailed write-up is below!
Full details on the ‘past talks’ page. That wraps up our 22/23 program of talks—thanks to all for organising, presenting, attending, and participating!
Watch this space for what’s to come in 23/24, including a CHEFS-NCEFE collab on sustainable food. This is part of our commitment to support ShefFood’s ‘Local Food Action Plan’, and its aim to ‘connect and enhance communication between food organisations working on different parts of the Sheffield food system.’
Below, we have:
updates on recent activities;
summary of the recent SHARe paired papers session;
resources: Sheffield Food Partnership’s Local Food Action Plan, recently launched;
the usual call for contributions and content for the September 2023 edition of What’s Cooking; deadline for submissions (research news and updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to smith1@shu.ac.uk by 30 August.
Cheers,
Jen
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Recent CHEFS Activities
Huge congratulations to Pallavi Singh and Dianne Dean (co-leads of the SWEFS cluster) and Scott Jones for recognition of their work with Sheffield City Council, around the council’s introduction of a food waste trial scheme. Pallavi, Di, and Scott are carrying out research to better understand the process of household food disposal across selected areas of Sheffield. The project was a shortlisted nomination for the 2023 PRME Faculty Recognition Award for Excellence in SDG Integration!
On 8 June, Sheffield Business School hosted its annual PGR/ECR conference, with the theme ‘Developing Our Research Culture.’ The SWEFS (Surplus Waste and Excess Food in Society) research culture was well represented by Nikita Marie Bridgeman, who won best PGR paper for her presentation, “Intergeneration Attitudes Towards Food Waste: A Socioeconomic Status Perspective.” Well done!
More accolades from the SBS PGR/ECR conference: The SHARe (Sheffield Hallam Appetite Research) research cluster was thrilled to have outstanding representation from one of our ECR colleagues, Dr Jordan Beaumont, and GTA, Megan Flint. Meg’s e-poster was entitled “The acceptability, sensory attributes, and emotional response to plant-based meat alternatives under open and closed label conditions.” Jordan’s work, on “An evaluation of tier two weight management services in the Yorkshire and Humber Region” went on to win the Best ECR Paper Prize! We’re thrilled for both of these SHARe colleagues! It’s brilliant to see how well received both presentations were.
GTA Megan Flint with colleagues Dr Simon Bowles, Dr Tony Lynn and Jenny Paxman have had their work on The acceptability and sensory attributes of plant-based burger products under open and closed label conditions accepted for presentation at the forthcoming Nutrition Society Summer Conference: Nutrition at key stages of the lifecycle – Liverpool 2023. This work was undertaken with Fiona Leroy, a recent intern from Institute Agro Dijon. This work has been chosen by the Nutrition Society Theme Lead for Food Systems as their highlight of the conference and will therefore be presented in the conference opening session, after invited plenary lecture one. We are so proud that this work has been recognised in this way. It’s a great opportunity to showcase what the Food and Nutrition team are currently engaged in research-wise. This is a further feather in Meg’s cap after last year’s postgraduate research win at the same conference, collaboratively hosted by F&N at Sheffield Hallam, University of Sheffield and Sheffield City Council, here at SHU last year. In further great news, recent work by F&N colleagues Claire Wall and Dr Jo Pearce has also been accepted to be presented at the same conference. Claire and Jo will be presenting on “Energy and nutrient content of school lunches provided for children attending early years settings within primary schools: A cross-sectional study”, and plan on submitting the full-text article to Public Health Nutrition shortly.
Jordan Beaumont, Claire Wall, Lucie Nield, Jo Pearce, Simon Bowles and Rachel Rundle are undertaking work with the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinic, with a project exploring food insecurity and childhood obesity. Jordan and Lucie are also nearing the end of their tier 2 weight management service evaluation project, with interviews conducted and transcribed, and project RAs doing the first round of framework analysis. They are looking to hold a dissemination event in November with participants to feedback findings and get input on the recommendations regarding findings and best practice.
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On 13 June, SHARe hosted a CHEFS online talks session with paired papers focussing on research relating to appetite regulation and modulation. The session, chaired by Anna Sorsby, featured work presented by Dr Miriam Clegg(University of Reading) and Dr Jordan Beaumont (Sheffield Hallam University). Recording here.
Dr Miriam Clegg is Associate Professor and Deputy Director (Institute of Food, Nutrition & Health), School Director of Postdoctoral Researchers, and Programme Director BSc Nutrition at University of Reading. Miriam is a Registered Nutritionist with a research interest in appetite, incorporating markers of food intake, eating behaviours and nutritional status including gastrointestinal transit, energy expenditure and hormones related to appetite. Miriam is PI on the BBSRC funded Food4Years Ageing Network. Miriam is Assistant Editor for 3 esteemed nutrition journals (BJN, J Hum Nutr and Dietetics and J Nutr Science). Miriam’s presentation was entitled: Dietary strategies for improving healthy life expectancy – the role of appetite research.
Abstract: Increased feelings of hunger and lack of satiety is linked to reduced adherence to weight loss interventions and difficulties in weight loss maintenance. With 63.8% of the population overweight or obese in England, appetite research has been suggested as a useful tool to reduce calorie intake. On the opposite side of the appetite narrative, a large section of the population are at risk of malnutrition, with or without obesity. UK life expectancy has increased through the 20th and 21st Centuries, yet there is little evidence that these gains in life expectancy are always translated to increased years living in good health for older adults, when compared to previous generations. A nutritious diet is recognised as essential for healthy aging, well-being, reducing the risk of chronic diseases and the rate of functional decline, and changes to lifestyle (i.e. diet, nutrition and physical activity) can maintain or improve body composition, cognitive and mental health, immune function and vascular health in older adults. Research often cites that 1/10 adults aged 65+ is malnourished or at risk of malnutrition based on 2015 statistics, however recent research from Age UK highlights that this may be even higher since the pandemic (2). Contrary to common belief, nutritional needs only decrease marginally with age, and are sometimes higher than the needs of younger individuals. Protein is a good example. The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the PROT-AGE Study Group have advised that a healthy older adult’s recommended daily protein intake should be increased to 1-1.2g/kg to maintain functionality, independence and fight infection. Protein is also known to be the most satiating macronutrient, and strategies to improve protein intake in older adults need to ascertain if increases in protein intake are like to impact overall food intake. Recent research from our group has used strategies to increase protein intake in older adults, focusing on foods that are liked and consumed by older adults (3). In the future, designing and producing a food environment that meets the diverse needs of older adults should work with them in the creation of bespoke, equitable interventions (4).
Yakubu AH, Platts K, Sorsby A et al. (2023) J Funct Foods 102, 105471
Age UK (2012) Understanding Society: COVID-19 Study
Clegg M, Methven L, Lanham-New S et al . (2023) Nutr Bull. 48, 124-133
Dr Jordan Beaumont is a Registered Nutritionist and Lecturer within the Food and Nutrition group at Sheffield Hallam University. Jordan is Course Leader for the MSc Food Consumer Marketing and Product Development and co-lead of the Sheffield Hallam Appetite REsearch (SHARe) cluster. Jordan’s research focusses on obesity and weight management, exploring novel interventions for weight management, the perceptions of health and obesity, and eating behaviours and appetite control. Jordan’s presentation was on Modulating eating behaviour with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
Abstract: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation involving the application of a constant and weak electrical current to the brain, is a popular technique for changing cortical activity and downstream behaviour (1). There has been particular interest in the use of this technique in weight management, with an emphasis on changing eating behaviour. However, despite promising early findings, studies have failed to identify a consistent effect of tDCS across eating-related measures (2, 3). Our research explores the application of tDCS, and through this work we have established stimulation parameters that appear to produce a consistent change in eating behaviour, and identified populations who may benefit from this technique (4, 5). This paired papers talk will overview our recent studies applying tDCS to change eating-related measures across different population, and will consider the therapeutic use of this technique in weight management.
ShefFood, Sheffield’s Food Partnership, launched its Local Food Action Plan (LFAP) in June. The LFAP is now live on the ShefFood website along with a brand new page for all our key strategic and research documents. You can also read some of the responses to the LFAP from the launch here. The next step for ShefFood is the Sustainable Food Places Silver Award bid which will be submitted in July. Want to get involved? Check out our latest events or email info@sheffood.org.uk
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Call for content for the next edition of What’s Cooking
The next edition of What’s Cooking will be September 2023. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to j.smith1@shu.ac.uk by 30 August.
CHEFS 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 Twitter (@SHU_CHEFS), subscribe to the blog and/or join our Jisc email list: see information on the very bottom of each CHEFS webpage.
What’s Cooking is an update on all things related to CHEFS: the Culture, Health, Environment, Food and Society research cluster at Sheffield Hallam University. What’s been cooking since our last edition?
This spring has witnessed a flurry of activity for all three of our clusters: a great reminder of the diversity of food-related research (and our love of acronyms) here at Sheffield Hallam University:
SHARe (Sheffield Hallam Appetite Research) hosted a Complete and Finish event to support appetite-related research ideas;
CHEFS (Culture, Health, Environment, Food and Society…for all things socio-cultural related to food and drink) hosted The English and Welsh Wine Symposium and a paired papers session on ‘Food, Wine and Discourse’ (abstracts and recording on the ‘past talks’ page).
We’re also excited to expand the CHEFS ‘paired papers’ format with two upcoming events organised by SWEFS and SHARe:
11 May, 3-4.30 on Zoom: SWEFS paired papers session on ‘Food Waste and Working with Vulnerable Participants’ (titles, abstracts on the ‘research talks’ page)
13 June, 3-4.30 on Zoom: SHARe paired papers session on ‘Exploring Human Appetite and Eating Behaviour’ (titles, abstracts on the ‘research talks’ page)
Below, we have:
updates on recent activities (including write-ups of the various CHEFS, SWEFS and SHARe events);
resources/calls for papers/conference announcements (Sheffield Food Partnership (ShefFood) are hosting the launch of the Local Food Action Plan for Sheffield on Thursday 15 June).
the usual call for contributions and content for the July 2023 edition of What’s Cooking.
Cheers,
Jen
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Recent CHEFS Activities
In March, Jenny Paxman and Dr Jordan Beaumont organised and led a Sheffield Hallam Appetite REsearch (SHARe) sub-cluster ‘Complete and Finish’ event. Attendees included established and new SHARe members, both staff and students, who have a keen interest in eating behaviours, the hedonics of food and feeding, obesity and weight management or sensory analysis. The purpose of the event was to Shape, Sharpen and SHARe appetite-related research ideas. Getting to know others who are active in our field is a brilliant way to progress any project. For SHARe, the event helped to identify the overarching state of current projects, and to reflect on members orientations as individuals and as researchers. A full write-up of the event, including the Shape, Sharpen and SHARe diagnostic, is available here.
Also in March: CHEFS hosted the English and Welsh Wine Symposium. Co-organisers Professor Jennifer Smith Maguire and Dr John Dunning welcomed over 50 academics and industry professionals, including wine makers, winery owners, wine retailers and wine writers, and hospitality and retail professionals. The half day event explored the current context and future directions of the English and Welsh wine industry. There were two keynote presentations from Masters of Wine: Mr Simon Thorpe, CEO of WineGB, ‘WineGB and its role supporting an emerging wine region;’ Professor Steve Charters, Burgundy School of Wine and Spirits Business, ‘PDOs and Terroir: The Complexities of Wine and Place.‘ In addition, the afternoon included a tutored tasting of English and Welsh wines, a panel discussion featuring a cross-section of industry perspectives, and a networking reception featuring English sparkling wines, with all wines generously selected and donated by WineGB. A full write-up of the event, with photos and links to the keynote presentations, is available here.
In April, the SWEFS (Surplus, Waste and Excess Food in Society) Research Sub-Cluster, co-led by Dr Pallavi Singh and Prof Dianne Dean, organised their introductory workshop and networking event. The workshop brought together 34 colleagues from BTE and National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) together to discuss current research on Food Waste and develop interdisciplinary collaborations for impact-oriented research on the Global Issue of Food Waste in the Society. Prof Dianne Dean, Dr Pallavi Singh, and Dr Scott Jones shared their work with Sheffield City Council on household food waste collection service, Prof Martin Howarth discussed the current work done by NCEFE, and SWEFS current Sheffield Business School PhD students, Nikita Marie Bridgeman and Ufuoma Arangebi, presented their respective projects. To know more about SWEFS’s work and join the TEAMS channel, please contact Dr Pallavi Singh on p.singh@shu.ac.uk. A write-up of the event, with photos from presentations, is available here.
Check out Gareth Robert’s latest instalment of his food PhD blog, which includes a tour of recent food sustainability events, and an emerging ‘rich picture’ of Gareth’s PhD on Yorkshire FFE: Food & Farming Events.
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Resources/call for papers/conference announcements
Local Food Action Plan Launch Date and time: Thu, 15 Jun 2023 18:00 – 20:30 BST Location: Victoria Hall Norfolk Street Sheffield City Centre S1 2JB
The Sheffield Food Partnership (ShefFood) are hosting the launch of the Local Food Action Plan for Sheffield on Thursday 15 June. ShefFood have co-created the action plan with almost 100 organisations in the city and in collaboration with FixOurFood through a series of 12 workshops to write and co-develop the action plan, which addresses 5 key pillars of a good local food system: food provision, food production, the food economy, health and wellbeing, and the good food movement. The action plan sets out specific commitments to action from diverse organisations across the city; over the next 7 years, these actions will take Sheffield’s food system on a journey to becoming fairer and more sustainable for people and planet. The launch event is free to attend (the community meal is on a pay-as-you-feel basis) and everyone is welcome, but spaces are limited so please do register for your free ticket via Eventbrite. For questions, please get in touch at info@sheffood.org.uk
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Call for content for the next edition of What’s Cooking
The next edition of What’s Cooking will be July 2023. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) to j.smith1@shu.ac.uk by 29 June.
CHEFS 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).
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On 25 April, the SWEFS (Surplus, Waste and Excess Food in Society) Research Sub-Cluster, co-led by Dr Pallavi Singh and Professor Dianne Dean, held their introductory workshop and networking event. The workshop brought together 34 colleagues from BTE and National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) together to discuss current research on food waste and develop interdisciplinary collaborations for impact-oriented research on the global issue of Food Waste in the Society.
Professor Dianne Dean, Dr Pallavi Singh, and Dr Scott Jones shared their work with Sheffield City Council on household food waste collection service.
Professor Martin Howarth discussed the current work done by NCEFE.
photo of someone giving a presentation
SWEFS current Sheffield Business School PhD students, Nikita Marie Bridgeman and Ufuoma Arangebi, presented their respective projects.
Finally, participants took part in small group roundtable discussions to identify current and future potential food waste related projects.
To know more about SWEFS’s work and join the TEAMS channel, please contact Dr Pallavi Singh on p.singh@shu.ac.uk.
On Wednesday 8th March our Sheffield Hallam Appetite REsearch (SHARe) sub-cluster met for a ‘Complete and Finish’ event here at SHU. Attendees included SHARe co-leads Jenny Paxman and Dr Jordan Beaumont and other SHARe founders and steering group members: Dr Caroline Dalton, Dr Rachel Marsden, Dr Steve Brown. We also welcomed Food and Nutrition GTA Megan Flint, Food and Nutrition Lecturer Dr Richard Gillis and Elizabeth Goodwin from Leeds Trinity University. We were brilliantly supported for this event by Food and Nutrition Student Champion Millie-Ann Hall.
SHARe is a sub-cluster of engaged academics, PGRs and associates who have a keen interest in eating behaviours, the hedonics of food and feeding, obesity and weight management or sensory analysis. This is by no means an exhaustive list – we are a really inclusive group welcoming anyone with shared research passions or something to offer in any field affiliated to appetite. SHARe sits within the CHEFS research cluster (along with sister sub-clusters SWEFS (Surplus Waste and Excess Food in Society) and CHEFS (Culture, Health, Environment, Food and Society)). You can find out more or sign-up to SHARe, and CHEFS here.
The purpose of the event was to Shape, Sharpen and SHARe (get it?) our appetite-related research ideas. Getting to know others who are active in our field is a brilliant way to progress any project. For SHARe, this event helped us to identify:
the overarching state of current projects;
our own nature, both as individuals and as researchers.
SHAPE:
Research idea generation; Project design; Funding ideas; Target journal suggestions; CPD and support needs SHARPEN:
Poster design/content; Abstract drafts; Conference presentations; Planned publications; Pilot questionnaires;
Recruitment material; Interview schedules SHARE: Research ideas; Collaborations; Potential examiners; Potential reviewers; Copies of work; Present
In the room there were varying degrees of familiarity. Some had long-standing working relationships or had previously collaborated; others were meeting for the first time. We all learnt something new about each other and our areas of interest and expertise.
As a group we cover all bases:
However, in terms of our research projects, individual’s projects may be at different stages but we are each most in need of shaping support.
Drilling down what this meant to attendees, it meant:
getting projects up and running;
finding and connecting with collaborators;
looking for concept or pilot project ‘adopters’;
seeking out funding opportunities;
getting back on the research horse.
We left feeling enthused and perhaps even a little clearer about next steps. Some left with new connections, plans to meet, show-rounds to schedule and even specific projects to reignite! Exciting times for SHARe.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. As a sub-cluster we benefit from monthly CHEFS newsletters (‘What’s Cooking?’) with the associated opportunities to write and publish blog-pieces, search out conferences, explore calls for abstracts, find funding opportunities and to come together as researchers to enjoy the regular CHEFS talks. SHARe will be hosting a CHEFS Talk on Tuesday 13th June 2023 15:00-16:30 with talks from Dr Miriam Clegg (University of Reading) and Dr Jordan Beaumont (Sheffield Hallam University). Sign up here. We can’t wait to see you there!
If you aren’t already a member you can join SHARe by clicking bit.ly/SHAReCluster
Many thanks to all who could join us on 14 March 2023, for the English and Welsh Wine Symposium, hosted by the CHEFS research cluster and the Department of Service Sector Management, Sheffield Business School.
The half day event explored the current context and future directions of the English and Welsh wine industry, with keynotes, a tutored tasting of English and Welsh wines, and a panel discussion featuring a cross-section of industry perspectives. Co-organisers Professor Jennifer Smith Maguire and Dr John Dunning welcomed over 50 academics and industry professionals, including wine makers, winery owners, wine retailers and wine writers, and hospitality and retail professionals.
The afternoon’s first keynote was delivered by Mr Simon Thorpe: ‘WineGB and its role supporting an emerging wine region.’ Simon is a Master of Wine, past trustee of the WSET, and current CEO of WineGB, the industry body for the wine production sector in Great Britain. Simon’s presentation provided a ‘state of the nation’ overview of wine production in the UK, and reviewed the challenges and opportunities for supporting an industry in its journey to maturity. Simon effusively captured the optimism of the event: “We are brilliantly set up: brilliant product, enormous market, brilliant consumers. We are amazingly well set up to be successful.”
Professor Steve Charters delivered the second keynote: ‘PDOs and Terroir: The Complexities of Wine and Place.‘ A Master of Wine, Steve is Professor of Marketing at Burgundy School of Wine and Spirits Business, and Adjunct Professor at Adelaide Business School. Steve’s talk explored the historical roots of PDOs (Protected Designations of Origin), which were a matter more of struggles between grape growers and wine merchants and the pursuit of economic power, than mystical notions of soil and place. Steve also shared preliminary findings from the UK portion of a transnational study of consumer perceptions of terroir, underlining that the sort of PDO that might best serve English and Welsh wine producers was far from straightforward.
Following lively question and answer sessions for each keynote, and a brief coffee break, the event resumed with a tutored tasting of a selection of wines, generously selected and donated by WineGB. Led by Simon Thorpe, the tasting took participants through six wines showcasing the diversity of English and Welsh wine production:
Penn Croft Bacchus 2021
Yotes Court Loose Rein 2021
White Castle Siegerrebe 2021
Sharpham Dart Valley Reserve 2020
Halfpenny Green Chardonnay 2019
Thorrington Mill Pinot Noir Rosé 2021
We had fantastic engagement from participants in the discussion of the wines, which ranged from anecdotes about the challenges of growing different varieties, to the challenges of selling little known varieties (Bacchus, Siergerrebe, Madeleine Angevine) to consumers, to the question of whether colour should matter when it comes to rosé.
The final major portion of the Symposium was devoted to a panel discussion, chaired by Dr Greg Dunn, head of the wine division at Plumpton College. Panellists drew on their varied industry perspectives to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for the future of English and Welsh wine. Mr Will Harper (a Sheffield Hallam alum!) drew on his experience in the hospitality industry and role as General Manager at Ivy Asia to offer excellent insights as to where small scale wines are best served (and not best served) in the spectrum of restaurant businesses. Mr Barry Starmore reflected on how much had changed over his long involvement in wine retail in terms of consumer interests and tastes, and highlighted the unique capacity of independent retailers to hand sell small scale wines and tell their stories. Finally, Mr Kieron Atkinson drew on his wide and varied experience as a winemaker at Renishaw Hall and Darley Abbey, alongside several other wine industry roles, to reflect on the challenges of creating financially sustainable wineries that take best advantage of their place.
The Symposium concluded with a networking event, the centrepiece of which was a selection of English sparkling wines donated by WineGB. Guests were treated to:
Dunesforde Queen of the North
Raimes Blanc de Noirs
Harrow & Hope Brut Rosé
Giffords Hall Classic Cuvée
Smith & Evans
Breaky Bottom Grace Nicols
Judging by the volume of conversations in the room, there was plenty of appetite for further discussion and agreement that the future of English and Welsh wines looks bright indeed.
Thanks in particular to the Department of Service Sector Management, Sheffield Business School, and to Mrs Julia Trustram Eve and WineGB, for the fantastic support that made the event possible.
