In this episode, we address what we know from science when it comes to adopting diets that support a healthy, sustainable food system. My guest is Amanda Wood who is a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Launched in 2007, the Centre’s vision is to advance a world where social-ecological systems are understood, governed and managed to not only enhance human well-being, but also enable the sustainable co-evolution of human civilizations with the biosphere.

Amanda’s work intersects science, policy and practice to inform food systems transformations for sustainability and health. This includes working with and informing decision-makers, organizations and networks who can influence change. Amanda was a co-author of the influential EAT Lancet report and subsequently wrote an analysis on how the Nordic food system would have to be transformed in order to meet the report’s recommendations.

  • 7:30 Five actions areas that will transform the food system
  • 19:00 Vision for the future food system
  • 26:50 Wishlist for change from policy makers
  • 31:00 Research areas we’re still missing to move forward
  • 35:30 Signs that the food system is changing for the better

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Episode Transcript

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Episode Transcript

Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech  3:15  

A big welcome to you Amanda. I’m very excited to have you on the show. I’ve been following the Stockholm Resilience Center for quite some time. This is one of those interviews that when you’re preparing, there’s just so much one could talk about and so much that we could look at within your research that it’s very exciting. So, I think a good way of getting started is for you to explain what the Stockholm Resilience Center is and why it was started.

Amanda Wood, Stockholm Resilience Center  3:44 

So, the Stockholm Resilience Center is a transdisciplinary center for sustainability science. If those are a lot of just big words, what it really means is that we are transdisciplinary and that researchers there work beyond the academic borders. We collaborate with policymakers, businesses, and civil society to help produce research that is societally relevant. By focusing on sustainability science, we get to solve some of these major challenges faced by the world today. So, we do work across a range of topics and disciplines from healthy and sustainable food, where I focus, to things like the greening of cities or financial markets. So, we’re pretty diverse, but we always focus on how we can improve our sustainability and resilience.