Projects per year
Personal profile
Overview
I research UK food policy and food systems, with a focus on sustainability, especially social sustainability and its alignment with environmental sustainability. To investigate these topics I use qualitative social research methods, including documentary analysis, policy mapping and interviewing. My research has investigated how diverse actors in the UK food system attempt to define and operationalise social aspects of sustainability. I have also participated in EU-funded research projects on the transmission of ethical concerns along food supply chains, and on the development of a tool that small-scale food businesses could use to assess and share their (social) sustainability performance. As part of the Food Systems and Policy Research Group within the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management Research (CAFEM) at the University of Hertfordshire, I am exploring the UK's agri-food policy transition and integration, including for horticulture, to see how this might support progress towards more sustainable land use and greater security of domestic food production. From 2020-2023, I was Director of the Food Research Collaboration, based at the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, which facilitated knowledge exchange between academics, civil society groups and policy makers. Building collaborations with stakeholders and including their voices in research projects remains important, and I draw on my early experience as a journalist to help share and communicate research findings.
Education/Academic qualification
Food Policy, PhD, A piecemeal way to save the world’: Investigating social sustainability in the UK’s conventional food supply, HEI: City, University of London
Award Date: 5 Apr 2017
Food Policy, MA, Thames Valley University
Award Date: 17 Oct 2003
English Language and Literature, MA, Somerville College, Oxford University
Award Date: 30 Jun 1978
External positions
Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Food Policy
1 Jun 2023 → …
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Should infant formula be available at UK food banks? Evaluating different pathways to ensuring parents in financial crisis can access infant formula
Sharpe, R. (PI)
1/03/24 → 28/02/25
Project: Research
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Food Policy
Wells, R., Sharpe, R., Yap, C. & Parsons, K., 2024, (Accepted/In press) Elgar Encyclopaedia of Food and Society. Holloway, L., Goodman, M., Maye, D. & Kneafsey, M. (eds.). Edward Elgar PublishingResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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Leveraging knowledge-policy interfaces for food systems transformation in the UK: lessons from civil society
Zerbian, T., Yap, C., Sharpe, R. & Reynolds, C., 18 Dec 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) London: UKRI-Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund. 40 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open AccessFile15 Downloads (Pure) -
The 70 recommended actions in the National Food Strategy Independent Review: The Plan.
Sharpe, R., 2021, The Food Research Collaboration, City, University of London.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Coordination must be key to how governments respond to Covid-19 food impacts: a view from England
Parsons, K., Sharpe, R. & Hawkes, C., 2020, The Food Research Collaboration, City, University of London.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Response to the EFRA committee enquiry COVID-19 and food supply
Reynolds, C., Isaacs, A., Sharpe, R., Neve, K., Pereira, L. & Wells, R., 2020, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report