The Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) community came together at the Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre on 23–24 March 2026 for what would be our final annual meeting. It proved to be a momentous, energising, and deeply reflective gathering, which brought together researchers, partners, stakeholders, and practitioners from across the UK to share insights, debate emerging challenges, and to celebrate five years of collaborative food systems research.
The agenda was a true showcase of the breadth and ambition of the programme, featuring themed scientific presentations, parallel sessions, symposia, workshops, posters, as well as keynote talks from leading thinkers including a thought-provoking talk from Professor Tim Benton’s on global food security, and insights on population-level behaviour change from Professor Theresa Marteau.
Key Themes and Insights from Across the Programme
Conversations throughout the meeting reflected the complexity and urgency of UK and global food system challenges. Several themes stood out:
- Systemic lock‑ins and barriers to transformative change: Attendees discussed entrenched structures in the food system and their implications for policy and practice.
- Global shocks and geopolitics: The meeting underscored how increasingly frequent global disruptions are becoming ‘the new normal’, highlighting vulnerabilities in UK food security and land‑use dependencies.
- Scientific and technological innovation: Sessions explored regenerative agriculture modelling, protein diversification, micronutrient resilience, and shifts toward healthier and more sustainable dietary patterns.
- Behaviour, digital environments, and school food systems: Researchers shared findings on behavioural levers, digital food environments, and the politics of school food – areas of growing significance across the programme.
- The indispensable role of networks and partnerships: A central message was the power of collaborative networks in fostering resilience and credible, long‑term change.
Across panels, workshops, posters, and informal conversations, a recurring sentiment was how much the TUKFS community has achieved, and how essential it will be to continue this work beyond the programme’s lifetime. As TUKFS Programme Director Professor Guy Poppy reflected, TUKFS has been ‘a real exemplar of how to co-create exceptional research with impact on many fronts’.
Looking ahead
While the final TUKFS Annual Meeting may mark the end of one chapter, it represents the beginning of many others. The partnerships, and networks fostered within this community provide the capability and expertise from which to transition the UK Food system towards resilience, equity, environmental regeneration, and improved public health. It will be through the continued production of compelling evidence that keeps the ambition for such positive change high.
Thanks to the sterling work undertaken by our hosts Professor Martin White and the Mandala Consortium, without whom the meeting would not have been possible.
Tracey Duncombe, TUKFS Knowledge Exchange Fellow
