For whom? Questioning the food and farming research agenda’ is the latest report from the Food Ethics Council.  This collection of articles addresses key questions about how the research agenda is set in food and farming, unmasks and challenges the dominant research paradigm, and highlights inclusive alternatives to deliver public good.

You can read the full report here on the Food Ethics Council website. 

Liz Hosken from The Gaia Foundation shares her experiences of community and farmer led research in African settings. You can read her article here or on page 32 of the report.

Dan Crossley, Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council states in his opening editorial:

“There are three things we would like to see. Firstly, we want transparency in the research-setting process, so that everyone can see how it is funded and who is involved. Secondly, we want inclusivity in how the research agendas are set – with citizens put at the heart of this, including biodiversity-enhancing farmers, who have perhaps most to offer, most to gain and most to lose. And thirdly, we want a framework introduced to ensure that all research delivers for the long-term public good and that it contributes to fair, healthy, humane and environmentally sustainable food and farming systems both in the UK and internationally. In our ‘final viewpoint’, we share further thoughts on what we at the Food Ethics Council believe is needed.

No-one yet has all the answers. But we hope you agree that this publication brings together invaluable insights from history, from different geographies and from different perspectives. Together we can make an ethical food and farming research agenda
a priority. And of the question ‘for whom?’ Surely the answer should be ‘for everyone’, including the children and grandchildren of the world? Hence, we as food citizens should get involved in shaping a better future for those that will inherit our legacy.