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by | May 14, 2024 · 8:16 pm

What’s Cooking, May 2024

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.

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Filed under appetite, eating behaviour, research, surplus waste & excess food in society, sustainability, Uncategorized, What's Cooking?

by | May 13, 2024 · 2:04 pm

A celebration of HallamFood!

The 24th of April marked an extraordinary day for HallamFood, with a plethora of enriching events and extra-curricular development activities co-designed by students and academics. This was a testament to collaboration, innovation and a shared passion for all things related to food and nutrition!

We kickstarted the morning with the “Food Z” All Student Conference 2024. This year, the conference explored topics essential to Gen Z and was delivered by 3 fabulous speakers. Selina Treuherz from ShefFood addressed on Fairer, Healthier, Greener: Developing Local Food Policy in Sheffield. Nicola Davies from New Food Innovation talked about Plant-based Food Innovation. Jessica Martin from Inspired Global Cuisine addressed on Food Access in the Cost of Living Crisis. Their invaluable insights truly shed light on pressing societal challenges and discussions on potential solutions, inspiring us to make a positive impact. During the short coffee break, we sampled delicious entries from the Baking Competition hosted by the Food and Nutrition Society (FANs).

Lead Organiser: Jenny Paxman, Food and Nutrition Subject Group Leader

Following up next was our Level 6 Farewell Event for Food and Nutrition/Human Nutrition and Health/Nutrition, Diet and Wellbeing students. Together, they gathered to reflect on their incredible academic journey, celebrate their achievements and forge lasting connections with each other. There was also an informal prize giving among students. A huge congratulations to those who were nominated!

We also had professional bodies IFST and NS membership events. The IFST event focused on the food industry competencies, including the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for a career in the food industry. For the Nutrition Society event, we are proud to have CEO Mark Hollingsworth presenting leadership and visions throughout nutrition, building sustainable networks as well as fostering member engagement.

Finally, was the highly anticipated Annual Discourse and Networking Event organised by SHUFood, an esteemed alliance comprising CHEFS, SHARe, and SWEFS. This premier gathering served as a dynamic platform, bringing together passionate individuals from diverse food-related backgrounds to engage in thought-provoking discussions and forge valuable connections.

The event featured captivating presentations from renowned experts in the field. Professor Graham Finlayson from the University of Leeds shed light on the intricate relationship between sweeteners, sugar replacements, and appetite. Dr. Megan Blake from the University of Sheffield explored the multifaceted nature of surplus food, while Professor Benedetta Cappellini from Durham University offered insightful reflections on intensive feeding practices and their implications across different contexts.

Beyond the stimulating discourses, the Networking Event provided attendees with ample opportunities to network, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations within the vibrant food research community. This gathering solidified SHUFood’s commitment to fostering knowledge-sharing, promoting professional growth, and advancing the food industry through a more conscious and responsible approach.

Iman Batrisyia: BSc Food and Nutrition (3rd Year)
Macy Wong: BSc Food and Nutrition (3rd Year)

 

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by | March 12, 2024 · 9:52 am

What’s Cooking, March 2024

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’re delighted to announce something new for Hallam-based SHUFood members: SHUFood Research Chats! These monthly online meetings offer a space to talk all things research: showcase work, provide updates, discuss plans, explore collaborations… They have evolved from the Food and Nutrition subject group’s long and happy history of research chats, and we’re looking forward to welcoming a wider SHUFood group! You can bring along updates to share, or just come along to see what everyone else is up to—all are welcome. The first SHUFood chat will be on Wednesday 10 April (15:30 to 16:30) via MS Teams. If you’re interested, please email Dr Jordan Beaumont (j.beaumont@shu.ac.uk) for more information and a calendar invite.

We’re busily preparing for 24 April, when we’ll be holding our SHUFood Annual Discourse event (2-5pm on campus). We’re excited to be hosting three fabulous speakers who reflect our three SHUFood themes: Professor Graham Finlayson (University of Leeds) will be talking about sugar replacement and appetite, Dr Megan Blake (University of Sheffield) will be talking about the ontological status of surplus food, and Professor Benedetta Cappellini (Durham University) will be talking about foodcare and mothers’ food practices. Full details to come on the SHUFood Events page. We’re also inviting all SHUFood researchers from any career stage to share existing research posters as part of the event—see details below in the ‘Resources and Calls for Papers’ section.

Finally, some exciting local news: Sheffield has been awarded the Silver Sustainable Food Places award! We’re very proud to be a named organisation on the application, and delighted that so many SHUFood and Sheffield Hallam colleagues are actively contributing to making Sheffield a more sustainable food place.

Below, we have:

  • updates on recent outputs and activities from our clusters and members;
  • resources and calls for papers (including a call for research participants for a study of food addiction);
  • the usual call for contributions and content for the mid-May 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 Monday 13 May.

Cheers,
The SHUFood Team!

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Cluster Updates

Jenny Paxman (RNutr Food) has been been awarded a prestigious Association for Nutrition (AfN) Fellowship, joining a limited number of leading Registered Nutritionists to have been conferred the title. AfN fellows are recognised for their high standards of professional leadership and significant and sustained contribution to the advancement of nutrition regulation, practice, research or education at a national or international level.  Applications for fellowship are rigorously a peer reviewed and must be supported by both Committee and Council. Jenny is Subject Group Leader for Food and Nutrition, a core member of the SHUFood leadership team, abnd SHUFood SHARe researcher. We’re super proud of her!

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Jenny Paxman recently participated in a Nutrition Society Roundtable: Differentiating fungi-derived proteins – is there a role for a fungal protein category within food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and how is this best communicated? This member-led meeting kicked off with presentations from experts in the field. Dr Emma Derbyshire from Nutritional Insight explored ‘Fungi vs plants: taxonomy, nutritional value, role in the diet and representation in food-based dietary guidelines around the world’ highlighting the different approaches taken globally.  Prof. Benjamin Wall (University of Exeter) went on to share some of the trials evidence exploring effects on muscle anabolism, cardio metabolic health and the microbiome.  The final presentation prior to discussion was from Prof. Paul Thomas (University of Stirling) who presented insights into the sustainability credentials of fungi-derived proteins. The live-streamed presentations and subsequent debate sought to answer seven key questions and lively discussion followed.  Look out for the published summary paper in due course.

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Lucie Nield, Jordan Beaumont, Rachel Rundle, Simon Bowles, Helen Martin, Claire Wall, Jo Pearce and David Harness have received a NIHR Application Development Award to run a study exploring the scale and scope of dark kitchens (food outlets with no customer-facing storefront who sell food exclusively through online platforms for delivery only) across the north of England. The project will work with consumers, local authorities and dark kitchen businesses to explore perceptions of “dark kitchens” and current approaches to identifying and regulating these businesses.

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Dr Jordan Beaumont was invited to give a guest lecture to psychology students and academics at Christ University (India). The lecture – Eating Behaviour: From “Normal” to Disordered Eating – provided an overview of Jordan’s research, and served as an opportunity to overview some of the collaborative work between Sheffield Hallam and Christ University.

Jennifer Smith Maguire will be participating in the ‘Workshop on Leisure & Consumption of Economic Elites’ in late March: a fully funded, closed workshop of 13 invited papers taking place at the University of Amsterdam. Jen’s workshop contribution examines the role of elite cultural intermediaries in shaping elite taste preferences and practices, and their utility as an empirical entry point for studying elite consumption dispositions. The working paper analyses media representations of biodynamic and natural wine over a twenty-year timespan, highlighting how these forms of ‘weird wine’ become conventional yet retain their insecure status as objects of legitimate, discerning consumption. Jen’s also part of a special session on ‘Consumer Culture Insights into Brands and their Heritage’ at the CCT 2024 conference, where she’ll be presenting a paper examining natural wines and the aesthetics of provenance.

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Publications:

Flint, M., Leroy, F., Bowles, S., Lynn, A. & Paxman, J. (2024). The acceptability and sensory attributes of plant-based burger products under open and closed label conditions [abstract only]. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 82 (OCE5), E278-E278. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0029665123003774

Fowler-Davis, S., Benkowitz, C., Nield, L. & Dayson, C. (2024). Green Spaces and the Impact on Cognitive Frailty; a scoping review. Frontiers in Public Health, 11:1278542. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1278542

Hawkins, A., & Rundle, R. (2024). School Food Hero and the Battle of the Food Foe: a story of public health policy, power imbalance and potential. Social Science and Medicine, 342. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116520

Lynn, A., Shaw, C., Sorsby, A., Ashworth, P., Hanif, F., Williams, C., & Ranchordas, M. (2024). Caffeine gum improves 5 km running performance in recreational runners completing parkrun events. European Journal of Nutrition. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-024-03349-3

Nield, L. (2024). “I Prefer Eating Less Than Eating Healthy”: Drivers of Food Choice in a Sample of Muslim Adolescents. Adolescents, 4 (1), 41-61. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents4010004

Nield, L., Thelwell, M., Chan, A., Choppin, S. & Marshall, S. (2024). Patient perceptions of three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging technology and traditional methods used to assess anthropometry. Obesity Pillars, 100100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obpill.2024.100100

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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) for more information and a calendar invite. The next SHUFood chat will be Wednesday 10 April (15:30 to 16:30).

 

Food Addiction Research: Participants Needed!
We’re looking to understand how people feel about ‘food addiction.’ The term ‘food addiction’ is widely used in popular culture including on social media. We would like to better understand how different people perceive ‘food addiction’ (no matter what viewpoint they have). As much of the current research under-represents certain groups or communities, we would like to hear from any adult (over 18 years), irrespective of demographic characteristics or how you identify. We believe that having a clear understanding about how people feel about ‘food addiction’ (no matter what viewpoint they have), will help improve future research in this area that could have an impact on weight management strategies and services. Please complete the very short (10-15 min) survey via: https://lnkd.in/eKamgJCc  Please share amongst your networks – we hope to reach as many people as possible and represent as diverse a range of individuals as we can.

Have you presented a SHUFood-relevant academic poster recently? Share it again!
All SHUFood researchers from any career stage are invited to share an existing research poster as part of the SHUFood Annual Discourse research showcase (24 April). Please send e-posters to j.r.paxman@shu.ac.uk or, if you have a physical copy of your poster, please email so we can arrange to collect this from you in the week before the event. We are trying to avoid waste by printing twice. We are interested in:

  • Food and drink storytelling, discourse, and ritual
  • Urban/regional food/ drink development (e.g., via wine and food tourism)
  • Inequalities, social justice, and sustainability of food/ drink
  • Institutional food settings (e.g., school lunches)
  • Attitudes towards food waste
  • Cost and management of food waste
  • Social, political, and economic impacts of overconsumption and food waste
  • Appetite regulation and modulation
  • Eating behaviour
  • Hedonics, food and feeding
  • Obesity and weight management
  • Sensory analysis

We aim to showcase as many posters as possible but can’t guarantee we can share them all.

Identities and Diversity Research Cluster: Seminar Series call – extended deadline (31 March)
We are pleased to share a call for papers for a new online seminar series of the Identities & Diversity cluster of the Drinking Studies Network, which will start mid-2024. The cluster focuses on alcohol’s relationship to the formation, performance, representation and regulation of different identities in historical, contemporary and cross-cultural settings. If you are interested in presenting in the seminar series, please email Samantha Wilkinson Samantha.wilkinson@mmu.ac.uk and Deborah Toner dt151@le.ac.uk by 31 March with your name and affiliation, presentation title, and a brief summary of your presentation (up to 200 words). The aim is to run an online seminar every three months, with two or three presenters in each panel, commencing in May/June 2024. We envisage the seminars running for 60 to 90 minutes: 20 minutes presentation time for each presenter, and 10 minutes Q&A for each presenter – though this is very flexible, and we welcome suggestions for alternative format from presenters. Please specify in your submission if you are proposing a different format. You can find out more about the cluster here: Identities and Diversity – Drinking Studies Network (wordpress.com).

Public House 2030: Will pubs still be here at the end of the decade? (register by 19 April)
‘Public House 2030’ is a one-day workshop aimed at examining the future of UK pubs. Hosted by Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University Newcastle in collaboration with the Beeronomics Society, and supported by Campaign for Pubs, the event will bring together people from the sector to discuss the changes affecting pubs, the different business models in the industry, and the impact of their decline of local economies and communities. Chaired by Professor Ignazio Cabras, head of accounting and financial management at Northumbria University Newcastle, the workshop features notable speakers including Grahame Morris MP, Dr. Liz Hind, Greg Mulholland, Dr Thomas Thurnell-Read, and more, addressing threats and exploring solutions for a sustainable future. Free to attend on a first-come, first-served basis. Register now by emailing Kevin Fletcher at kevin.fletcher@northumbria.ac.uk by the 19th April 2024. 

Journal of Marketing Management Special Issue- *CFP* (deadline 16 September)
Nadine Waehning, Victoria Wells and Robert Bowen are putting together a special issue entitled: ‘Perspectives on drinking, manufacture and drinking spaces and places.’ Papers are welcomed from across a range of disciplines related to markets, consumers, marketing etc. The deadline for submissions is 16th September 2024. The CFP and further information can be found at: https://www.jmmnews.com/perspectives-on-drinking/.

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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-May. Please send content (research updates, calls for expression of interest, relevant calls for papers/conference/event announcements) by Monday 13 May 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.

 

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Filed under appetite, eating behaviour, food practices, food waste, plant-based foods, SHARe Sheffield Hallam Appetite Research, SHUFood, Uncategorized, What's Cooking?, wine

by | December 21, 2023 · 1:51 pm

Sustainable food and drink: an immersive tasting and learning event

On December 7th, SHUFood and NCEFE (the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering) joined forces to host ‘Sustainable Food and Drink: An Immersive Tasting and Learning Event.’ The event welcomed 40 guests to a three-hour event that included a sustainable food quiz, canapés made from surplus food, and a tutored tasting featuring sustainable wine and whiskey. Aimed at the general public, the activities were designed to help people think differently about sustainable food and drink, and to showcase our diverse SHUFood food-focused research at Sheffield Hallam University.

The event was part of our commitment to ShefFood’s Local Food Action Plan for Sheffield, building an ‘inclusive food movement’ through public-facing events on the theme of healthy and sustainable food.

We started the evening capturing people’s responses to the prompt ‘what does sustainable food and drink mean to you?’ Answers included being mindful; seasonal; local (and local bees!); egalitarian; creative with fewer ingredients; good food for a good future; smart packaging; and being part of my food system. The full set of responses is captured in this padlet, allowing others to share their comments and likes to continue the conversation; you can also take a video tour of the responses.

A few highlights of the evening:

The drinks! Guests were welcomed with mulled, spiced apple juice and two kombuchas (alongside activities highlighting SHUFood research and the brilliant work of Sheffield Hallam’s Design Futures Packaging to make food packaging more sustainable). Accompanying activities in the fantastic Hallam test kitchen, guests then sampled wines carefully selected by our event beverage guru, John Dunning, for their sustainability credentials. This included Yorkshire wines from Laurel Vines Vineyard (kindly donated by Ian Sargent, chairman of WineGB Midlands and North). The final phase of the event featured a tutored tasting of two sustainable wines, supplied by local wine merchant Starmore Boss, and a whiskey from Derbyshire’s White Peak Distillery. Tastings were enhanced by fascinating stories of provenance, production process and passion from Jeff Boss of Starmore Boss, and White Peak Distillery Manager Dave Symes.

Photos: SHUFoodie Ewen Crilley pouring in the test kitchen; Dave Symes of White Peak Distillery and John Dunning (SHUFoodie extraordinaire and mastermind of the event’s drinks component); Jeff Boss of Starmore Boss; an expectant audience as the tasting got underway.

 

The food! Oh, the amazing food! Caroline Millman (NCEFE ‘Healthier Lives’ theme lead) set the vision for the event’s food component, with a focus on using surplus food, scrupulously saved from previous weeks’ teaching and sourced from Food Works Sheffield. Everyone was blown away by the results of SHU’s culinary wizards Jason Tompkin and Amy Downing, who took Caroline’s brief and turned it into an array of creative, delicious dishes. Pure genius. Judging by the event’s final feedback board (see below), the sprout station (soup, patties, and slaw!), onion peel powder and banana skin vegan bacon made a lasting impression. Amplifying the impact of the food was the pièce de résistance: a truly challenging sustainability food quiz.

Photos: Amy Downing, Jason Tompkin and crates of ingredients from Food Works; SHU ‘food and nutrition’ student champion Macy Wong and Caroline Millman (mastermind of the event’s food component) deliver the sustainability quiz answers (and the facts behind them); upcycled bananas were transformed into tasty chips and vegan bacon; the full tasting menu; the test kitchen full of happy guests.

 

 

We finished the evening with a pledge wall, the brainchild of SHUFoodie Pallavi Singh (see photo below). There were fantastic responses, including pledges to be thoughtful, creative and waste less; to ask more questions; to try more plant based foods; to cook as a house; to read Sheffield’s Local Food Action Plan…and our sprout station, onion powder, and sustainable wine and whiskey clearly made a big impression! The full set of responses is captured in this padlet, allowing others to share their comments and likes to continue the conversation; you can also take a video tour of the responses.

All in all, it was a superb event that gave everyone food for thought. A huge thank you to our keen participant guests, our fabulous ‘Food and Nutrition student champions’ Jed Gauder, Macy Wong, Iman Batrisyia, and Kayleigh Cope, and to everyone who supported the event with their energy, time, creativity, donations, and stories.

Wishing you a restorative holiday, and a tasty and sustainable new year!

 

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by | December 7, 2023 · 1:47 pm

Picturing Good Food: Our Winners!

Back in October, SHUFood delivered a public engagement research event as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science: Picturing Good Food. The event explored the ways in which social science contributes to the development of healthier, more sustainable, and more enjoyable food practices. It was also a brilliant excuse to bring together our three research clusters, CHEFS, SWEFS and SHARe to increase awareness of our food-related research.

The event took place in Sheffield’s Winter Gardens, and featured engaging activities for all ages. We were especially delighted to have had so many younger children as eager participants, who enjoyed the activities while learning more about the potential for food to have a positive impact for health and the environment. The activities delved into attitudes towards eating, plant-based foods, and food waste, which have become increasingly popular topics in the last few years.

Children (and not a few adults!!) took part in a series of hands-on activities, including the chance to draw their vision of good food. Whilst we saw outstanding artistic expression from all who participated, we nevertheless set ourselves the difficult task of identifying winners.

Drum roll please…

In the infant category (5-7 years), we extend our congratulations to two winners: Reggie (aged 7) and Diala (aged 8). Both your talents have shown through, and we are extremely impressed by your amazing capabilities on attitudes to eating, plant-based foods, and food waste.

From our junior category (7-11 years), a big congratulations to Annika (aged 10) and Millie (aged 10). Your food drawings are spectacular, and your creativity is amazing!

Congratulations once again on your inspiring drawings on perceptions of food and drink.

We’ve messaged winners (or rather, their adult agents!) on Twitter, but haven’t yet heard back from a few. Please get in touch (j.smith1@shu.ac.uk) to claim your prize.

And a big thank you from the SHUFood team to all of the brilliant Sheffield Hallam University Food and Nutrition Student Champions who helped with the event, and Kayleigh Cope for drafting this blog!

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by | November 14, 2023 · 7:52 pm

What’s Cooking, November 2023

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:

A group photo with people holding vegetables

  • ‘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

Upcoming ShefFood working group meetings and working group minutes are available on the ShefFood events page):

  • Growing & Composting (upcoming meeting: 22 Nov)
  • Food Ladders
  • Good Food Movement (upcoming meeting: 30 Nov)
  • Good Food Economy & Procurement

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.

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Filed under CHEFS, research, SHARe Sheffield Hallam Appetite Research, sustainability, SWEFS Surplus Waste and Excess Food in Society, Uncategorized, What's Cooking?

by | October 27, 2023 · 10:10 am

Picturing Good Food: SHUFood Public Engagement Event

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.

 

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by | October 20, 2023 · 10:33 am

PGR/ECR Food Research Workshop

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.

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by | March 23, 2023 · 3:31 pm

SHARe event report

an image of people working around a table with a powerpoint presentation on the wall screenOn 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:

screenshot of Venn diagram of sharers, shapers, sharpeners

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.

screenshot of venn diagram of share input, shape input, sharpen input

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

 

 

 

 

 

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by | March 15, 2023 · 10:30 pm

English and Welsh Wine Symposium, March 2023

A screenshot of the event programme

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.

A photo of the event, with tasting mats, wine notes and folded programmes on the tables

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.

A photo of Simon Thorpe delivering his keynoteA screenshot of Simon Thorpe's first slide

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.”

A photo of Steve Charters delivering his keynoteA screenshot of Steve's first slide

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.

A photo of Simon Thorpe leading the wine tasting, with an image of different coloured wines in six tasting glassesA photo of the room, with participants tasting the wines

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.

A photo of the panel, with Will Harper, Barry Starmore, Kieron Atkinson and Greg Dunn
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.

A photo of event co-organisers John Dunning and Jennifer Smith Maguire at the networking event 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.

Until next time!

 

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