Established in response to the passing of the visionary Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, the new Living Good Food Nation lab serves as a hub for research, discussion, and action. Here, academic, policy and civil society stakeholders are uniting to drive forward the vision of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act and help set the direction of travel for Scotland delivering a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system for all. Through rigorous research, strategic policy development, and vibrant stakeholder and community engagement, the lab will provide essential support, and critical insight, to the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and territorial Health Boards as they produce their first set of National (Scottish Government) and Local Good Food Nation (32 Local Authority and 14 Health Board) Plans.
The term, Good Food Nation, was first used by the Scottish Government in their 2014 publication ‘Recipe for Success: Scotland’s National Food and Drink Policy – Becoming a Good Food Nation’ and its use was further embedded by the non-statutory Scottish Food Commission, who were instrumental in advocating for new framework legislation to underpin Scotland’s Good Food Nation ambitions and drive food systems transformation in Scotland.
First introduced to the Scottish Parliament in October 2021 (after a delay due to Covid 19), the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill was unanimously passed in June 2022 becoming Scot’s Law on 26 July 2022. The Act provides the statutory and policy conditions, and independent scrutiny mechanisms required to drive forward health-centred, net-zero aligned food systems transformation in Scotland[1].
Fortuitously, ten days after the GFN (Scotland) Act became law, the Wellcome Trust issued a call for proposals from research institutions in G7 member countries focused on advancing climate mitigation policy solutions with co-health benefits including for projects focused on food systems transformation. Our ‘Living Good Food Nation Lab’ is one of three food systems transformation projects funded (all UK Based – Oxford, Aberdeen and Edinburgh) through this call and one of two projects awarded to Scotland, highlighting the country’s strength in, and commitment to, research and progressive policy in food systems transformation.
The Living Good Food Nation Lab grew out of a longstanding transdisciplinary community of academic, civil society, and policy partners, cultivated during the GFN Bill process. The team come from an eclectic array of disciplinary, policy, professional and civil society backgrounds and our transdisciplinary project is inspired by the innovative ‘Food Systems Living Lab’ model with four interconnecting units: Analytical, Policy, Grassroots, and System Thinking. Together the units will work to foster and empower the diverse, strong, and critically informed community of practice for food systems transformation in Scotland. They will provide essential analytical support to Scottish Local Authorities and Health Boards with their first Local Good Food Nation Plans, and to undertake research into the barriers to and enablers of ways of working needed to bring the Good Food Nation vision to life.
Professor Mary Brennan, Chair of Food Marketing and Society at the University of Edinburgh Business School, and Director of the Living Good Food Nation Lab, said: “I am very proud, excited and just a wee bit terrified to be leading the new Wellcome Trust funded Living Good Food Nation Lab. Our work will evolve with, and be responsive to, the roll out and implementation journey, and timeline, of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act. As a lab, we are here to work with, and provide essential support to, relevant Scottish authorities. We will engage with the new statutory Scottish Food Commission, and empower the wider Scottish food systems transformation community of practice during the initial rollout of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act (2023-2027). Specifically, we will provide support to relevant authorities with the development of their first Local Good Food Nation Plans.”
To learn more about the Living Good Food Nation Lab and other Wellcome Trust funded projects, visit the following links:
Mary Brennan
Chair of Food Marketing and Society, and Principal Investigator of the Living Good Food Nation Lab
Collaborators on the grant include:
- Professor Peter Alexander – University of Edinburgh, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, and the School of Geosciences
- Aoife Behan – Doctoral Researcher, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems
- Dr Beth Cloughton – Research Fellow in Food Systems Transformation – Grassroots and Community
- Dr Isabelle Darmon – University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science
- Dr Isabel Fletcher – University of Edinburgh, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, the University of Edinburgh Business School
- Professor Lindsay Jaacks – University of Edinburgh, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems
- Dr Joe Kennedy – Living Good Food Nations Lab: Research Fellow in Food Systems Transformation - Analytical Support
- Dr Megan Kutzer – Research Fellow in Food Systems Transformation - Analytical Support
- Dr Simone Lamont Black – University of Edinburgh Law School
- Professor David Marshall – University of Edinburgh Business School
- Dr Niamh Moore – University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science
- Dr Ndungu Nyokabi – Research Fellow in Food Systems Transformation - Systems Thinking and Practice
- Dr Kelly Parsons – University of Cambridge
- Claire Perier – Research Fellow in Food Systems Transformation - Policy and Governance
- Professor Simon Pringle – University of Edinburgh Business School (Visiting Professor) and the Sustainable Business Practice
- Tilly Robinson-Miles – Living Good Food Nations Lab: Partner and Stakeholder Relationship Fellow
- Dr Kirsteen Shields – University of Edinburgh, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems
- Dr Valeria Skafida – University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science
- Professor Angela Tregear – University of Edinburgh Business School
- Mila Vukomanovic – Living Good Food Nations Lab: Senior Research Project Manager
- Dr Marisa Wilson – University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences
- Dr Sophia Woodman – Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science
- Nourish Scotland
- Soil Association Scotland
- Earth in Common
- Scottish Government – Good Food Nation Team and Rural and Environment Science Analytical Service
- Assist FM
- Food Standards Scotland
- Obesity Action Scotland
- Scottish Food Coalition (55 civil society members)
- Impact Measurement Ltd – Adam Wilkinson
Footnotes
[1] Ritchie, P., Kynoch, G., Gourlay, R., Morton, U., Fitzpatrick, J. (2017). ‘Recommendations from the Scottish Food Commission for the implementation of, and content for, the Scottish Good Food Nation Bill’. Scottish Food Commission.