Chellaram Foundation £5 million gift to Oxford launches new programme for healthy and sustainable diets

A major new research and engagement programme at the University of Oxford will investigate how healthier, more sustainable diets can be achieved at population level, and how evidence can inform policy and practice across food, health and environmental systems.

The Chellaram Programme for Healthy and Sustainable Diets will bring together researchers from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the Oxford Martin School, the Department of Biology and the School of Geography and the Environment. The programme has been established through a £5 million philanthropic gift from the Chellaram Foundation.

Alongside the research activity, the programme will support doctoral students and early-career researchers through the Chellaram Scholars Programme. A dedicated public and policy engagement work strand will help ensure findings are shared with policymakers, practitioners, industry, civil society and the wider public. This will ensure that the people with power to make change have the latest evidence from the programme to guide them, and that the findings have a wide influence on society.

The programme launches at a time of growing international focus on the links between diet, chronic disease, climate change, biodiversity loss and animal welfare. While there is increasing evidence that a shift towards more plant-rich diets could bring benefits across these areas, there are major questions remaining about how these changes can be achieved in ways that are effective, equitable and acceptable to the public.

Led by Professor Peter Scarborough, Professor of Population Health at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS), the programme will focus on dietary change (the factors that shape what people choose and consume) particularly in high income countries where current consumption patterns place significant pressure on health and environmental systems.

The programme will address three closely connected challenges: improving human health, reducing the environmental impact of food systems, and strengthening evidence on the animal welfare implications of intensive farming.

Professor Peter Scarborough, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, said:

‘Many of the challenges associated with improving human health, improving animal welfare, and protecting the environment can be tackled with the same solution: a move towards healthy plant-rich diets. The real question is how this can be achieved in practice. This programme will examine what works, in which settings and how evidence can support better policy and public health decision-making.’

Research will include: studies on the health effects of plant-based protein alternatives; the environmental and animal welfare impacts of food production; the influence of online information, social media and food environments on dietary choices; and policy modelling to help decision-makers assess the likely health, environmental and animal welfare impacts of different interventions.

Dr Joseph Poore, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biology, said:

'The greenhouse gas emissions of food are now relatively well known, but the biodiversity impacts of food are far less known. Worse, the welfare impacts of food production on the billions of animals in our farming systems have barely been quantified in any systematic way. Through HESTIA, the open data platform I lead in the Department of Biology, we will broaden our crop and livestock data and feed it to the programme's health, environment, and policy streams, while taking the first steps to bring robust biodiversity and animal welfare data onto our platform, making it freely accessible to the world.'

The Oxford Martin School facilitates interdisciplinary work on all aspects of food throughout the University and this new programme will sit alongside the Future of Food programme. Professor Sir Charles Godfray CBE FRS, Director of the Oxford Martin School, said:

‘Food systems sit at the centre of some of the most complex and interconnected challenges facing societies today. This programme draws on Oxford’s distinctive strength in bringing together researchers from different disciplines to generate evidence that can inform policy, practice and public debate. I am delighted that Oxford is partnering with the Chellaram Foundation on this exciting project.’

The Chellaram Foundation supports work across health, the environment, animal welfare and education. Its gift reflects the Foundation’s interest in research that addresses these connected priorities together, with education embedded through the Chellaram Scholars Programme. Mr Lal Chellaram, Founder and Chairman, The Chellaram Foundation, said:

‘There are massive pressures on land and water resources as farming systems seek to satisfy a growing demand for meat in the modern diet, which is threatening to wreak irreparable damage to the environment. Our health is being affected and there is evidence of animal suffering in the process. The Oxford University programme funded by the Chellaram Foundation poses fundamental questions on how a transition towards plant-rich diets can be achieved to reverse this unsustainable trend. With its reputation for research independence and excellence, its global influence and a world-class academic team, I am tremendously excited to be partnering with Oxford University in a programme which could have significant benefits for human health, animals and our planet.’

Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said:

‘This generous gift from the Chellaram Foundation will enable Oxford researchers to address one of the defining challenges of our time: how evidence can support changes to diets that benefit both people and the planet. The Chellaram Programme for Healthy and Sustainable Diets exemplifies Oxford’s distinctive strength in bringing together expertise from across disciplines to tackle complex global challenges. I am delighted that this partnership will also support the next generation of researchers through the Chellaram Scholars Programme.’

Further details about the research and engagement programme are available on the webpage: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/chellaram-programme-healthy-sustainable-diets