We have three great researcher jobs advertised, each for 12m, contributing to our work on generating evidence to inform food system transition. Please share widely.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
@imsepidemiology.bsky.social @jeanmadams.bsky.social @kellyparsons.bsky.social
Despite widespread industry fears the SDIL would harm their businesses, researchers found that leading UK soft drinks companies continued to experience positive growth in their share prices during its implementation.
www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2020/02...
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Research by @ninarogers.bsky.social & Prof. David Conway incicates the SDIL may have reduced tooth removal in under 18's due to tooth decay by 12%, saving >5,500 hospital admissions for tooth decay with the largest reductions in children aged 0-9 years.
www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2023/11...
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An analysis of UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey data led by @ninarogers.bsky.social and @jeanmadams.bsky.social found daily free sugar intake fell by 5g in children and 11g in adults following the announcement of the SDIL in 2016.
www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/07...
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As the Soft-Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) is extended to cover milkshakes and pre-packaged lattes, it's worth taking a look back at some of the findings from the evaluation of the SDIL undertaken by @martinwhite33.bsky.social and colleagues.
studies.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/sdil
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The Mandala Consortium comprises of researchers from:
University of Cambridge (@cam.ac.uk)
University of Birmingham (@unibirmingham.bsky.social)
University of Warwick (@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social)
University of Exeter (@exeter.ac.uk)
Learn more - buff.ly/SvWbu51
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The Mandala Consortium is conducting a range of research projects across Birmingham to investigate how the food system is changing
Research has found that the expansion of free school meals to all children would bring significant economic & social benefits as well as tackling food insecurity
The LEAP conference is back in Oxford on 22nd April 2026. We have @martinwhite33.bsky.social and @suepritch.bsky.social as keynote speakers. Abstract submissions will open early next year. Save the date! @oxfutureoffood.bsky.social
A brown chicken sits on straw in a wooden box. It sits on one brown egg with a white egg nearby. In the top left is a logo which reads LEAP: Livestock, Environment and People. In the top right it reads 2026. Along the bottom it says 22 April 2026, Worcester College, Oxford
Save the date! The LEAP conference will return on 22 April 2026. Come and join us at Worcester College in Oxford to discuss meat and dairy production and consumption.
We are thrilled that @suepritch.bsky.social and @martinwhite33.bsky.social will be delivering keynotes.
@oxmartinschool.bsky.social
Read...
📖the full story 👉 buff.ly/4pbcVHt
🔖 the full paper in Nature Food buff.ly/JZBEVLn
🍽️ More about Mandala here buff.ly/WOHbQrI
🌍 New research from the Mandala Consortium and Cambridge Zoology shows the scale of species extinction risk driven by food production, with huge differences across foods & regions. Impacts can vary by up to 1,000x depending on what we eat & where it’s produced. buff.ly/4pbcVHt 🧵 1/7
In an accompanying review @martinwhite33.bsky.social, who leads the Mandala Consortium, and colleagues set out 27 practical ideas to transform food systems for the better, covering farming, manufacturing, supply chains & what ends up on our plates.
buff.ly/7e8hte7
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In this BMJ paper, @martinwhite33.bsky.social and colleagues present a new MRC and NIHR framework that provides an integrated guide for using a natural experimental approach to evaluating population health and health system interventions.
Read the paper at buff.ly/cEXl6km
Honoured and grateful - many thanks. Sorry to have not been there this year!
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Takeaways can negatively impact the diet and diet-related health outcomes of local residents
Local authority urban planners can deny planning for new takeaways in management zones around schools
But what are the long term impacts of these exclusion zones?
Read - buff.ly/S04RDSP
>10 years old but still as relevant - 10 tips for progressing from PhD to PI from @martinwhite33.bsky.social
fuseopenscienceblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/from...
Karen Hofman and Susan Goldstein cal for G20 to implement health taxes to tackle the rising tide of NCDs. The numbers are staggering, the arguments compelling.
theconversation.com/sugary-drink...
THRIVING Food Futures logo. On a white background there is the word 'thriving' in green. On the left is a picture of a plate, leaf and fork all overlapping in green. But artistic, like.
Our new research hub on the co-benefits for health of sustainable diets has just got itself a BlueSky account! Follow @thrivingfoodfuture.bsky.social for info about the project.
Cool logo, eh?
Next week we welcome @jeanmadams.bsky.social to Oxford for our Wednesday seminar. Professor Adams will be talking about mandatory calorie labelling and what it reveals about public health policy making.
Join in person @oxmartinschool.bsky.social or online 👇
www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/event/an-eva...
Surprisingly not!
In other news, the weather is bueno and the jacarandas in bloom...
I have more to say about this, but will maybe wait until I've heard and seen more...
At #ECO2025 @jeanmadams.bsky.social and @harryrutter.bsky.social answering some difficult questions with vaguely unpopular but insightful answers. #systemsthinking @easoobesity.bsky.social
Webinar: Introducing the updated framework for using natural experiments to evaluate population health interventions
Fri 23 May
12:00 - 13:15
Register at events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f01e66...
We are hiring! We're looking for two post-doc researchers to help us deliver a randomised controlled trial of group model building to address inequalities in diet in English local authorities.
Two 3y posts, ideally starting in July. Closing date 4 May.
Full details: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50905/
Researchers for the Mandala Consortium studied the environmental sustainability of inpatient paediatric menus, while assessing the potential to maintain/improve the nutritional value and the appeal of the dishes, and the related costs to the NHS.
Watch - buff.ly/AGZDHIe
Written by the Unit’s Prof. @jeanmadams.bsky.social and published in PLOS Medicine, this perspective reflects on the importance of both life and social scientists utilising the NOVA system to investigate “the key questions of both which foods, and which aspects of food systems, cause the most harm”.
A head-on shot of the finished drystone wall, showing the full arch and the even, tight stonework. The three large protruding stones, meant to hold a bench, are clearly visible. Behind, a stand of thin trees in early leaf frames the scene.
A close, angled view of the wall from the right-hand side. The depth of the wall and the precise fit of the stones are visible. The three bench supports jut out confidently, and the coping stones curve cleanly along the top edge.
A wide view of a newly built drystone wall, recessed into a grassy bank with a light woodland backdrop. The wall features a curved arch of upright coping stones along the top and three protruding flat stones spaced across the middle, intended to support a bench. Earth around the wall is still rough from the recent build.
Just finished this 5m long drystone seating area on the banks of the loch.
It will hold a single piece of oak across the three protruding stones to form a bench.
Built by hand, no mortar, just time, attention, and stone. All materials sourced locally.
#Scotland #Nature #Environment #Sustainable
That is fabulous - well done! I just hope the seat isn't going to be too high for people with short legs! This seems to be a common problem in a number of public places...
Agree Pete, but the bigger gains will come from the uprating of the tax in line with inflation, albeit this is going to be staggered over years...
