One of the (many) new opportunities generated by the workshop on evidence-based decision support for food security held in the department in April, was an invitation for Dr Martine Barons to join Birmingham Food Council’s food poverty workshop “food insecurity — a city-level response?” held on Monday 11^th May. Although there were half a dozen academics, the vast majority of attendees were drawn from local government and the third sector. All were working in domains which included food and poverty, often directly with individuals and families affected. The purpose of the workshop was to gather the expertise of all on the subject of a city-wide approach to food poverty by identifying the current drivers, possible future drivers, what can be learned from other places, future possibilities and strategies to realise the potential. As part of the evening, Martine was one of the participants interviewed; video here: http://www.birminghamfoodcouncil.org/martine-barons-on-taking-steps-rather-than-swallowing-foodpoverty-whole/

Martine said, “The importance of engaging with opportunities like these is to learn from and engage with those who may facilitate future research opportunities and make use of the outputs of the current project.”