Stockholm University launches research center to prepare for potential food systems crises

Stockholm University has been granted SEK 60 million (US$5.4 million) to build a research center focused on creating national food systems capable of withstanding global crises that could disrupt production and supply chains. The project, Plate, will employ academics from a range of disciplines and last four years.

Line Gordon, director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, who led the Plate application, tells Food Ingredients First the key to the project’s approach is a focus on meals, rather than solely the different systems producing different ingredients.

“Plate will be established as a Swedish transdisciplinary research center that focuses on the role of the foodservice sector in driving sustainability, building preparedness and resilience and contributing to competitive businesses,” she explains. 

“By focusing on meals, and all the actors involved in providing ingredients for meals, preparing meals, and making recipes for meals, Plate can take a very systemic perspective. 

The combination of resilience building and preparedness with sustainability is also important and needed in a time of polycrises.” 

The Plate project’s methods are based on the polycrisis of increasing climate extremes, cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical tensions.The research team has a partnership with some of the largest private companies in the Swedish foodservice sector, public authorities such as the Swedish Food Agency, and outreach partners including Live Green, which serves meals at music festivals.

The polycrisis

Gordon says the project’s focus and methods are grounded on the concept of polycrisis, in which threats to social systems — such as food supply — are treated as a consequence of multiple intertwining crises. These include economic, social and environmental factors, which must be addressed holistically. 

“Over the past few years, we have seen how the world is facing multiple crises, often referred to as a time of polycrisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing climate extremes, cost-of-living crisis and growing geopolitical tensions,” she explains. 

“This is affecting Sweden in multiple ways and we need to increase capacity to deal with situations where Swedish food production, or imports, may decline, or where infrastructure breaks down (such as electricity cuts or destruction of roads or digital connections) and impacts the availability and accessibility of food for different groups.” 

“To find relevant and systemic solutions, there is a need to combine expertise from multiple different disciplines such as nutrition, agronomy, environmental sciences, economics and behavioral sciences.”

Foodservice starting point

The focus on meal planning and the foodservice sector is an original strategy for addressing these crises, says Gordon. 

The planned research center will conduct crisis exercises in the meal sector and analyze the costs of various strategies for long-term resilience to crises.“The role of meals in relation to contingency planning and sustainable development has been relatively under-researched. Plate will study and develop attractive meals that promote health, sustainability and improved contingency planning.” 

“The center will also conduct crisis exercises within the meal sector and devise strategies to secure food supplies during crises. Additionally, it will analyze the costs of various strategies for increased short-term preparedness and long-term resilience.” 

Over the next year, the team will build partnerships and refine its research questions, with the aim of launching in October 2025.

“The five-year vision of Plate is an empowered foodservice sector that plays a pivotal role in creating a resilient, sustainable and competitive Swedish food system that ensures well-being for all,” Gordon continues. 

“The overarching goal is to develop the science, knowledge and transformative capacities needed to achieve the vision through improved policies, scalable practices and a shift in values and mental models.”