Nominally retired, I'm busy as a freelance writer and researcher. My main field of interest is food hubs, organisations that link the interests of small food producers and consumers who care about food. Essentially, these are warehouses where local produce is assembled and then distributed, primarily to bulk-order customers like schools and hospitals. These have demonstrated that they can both pay a decent return to farmers and supply good, affordable food to consumers.

The Fellowship supported my visit to the USA in July 2019 on a trip that took me from Portland on the west coast to Philadelphia on the east, via Chicago and Charlottesville.

My Fellow's Report – which also looks at food co-ops in Italy – pinpointed the success factors for food hubs and recommended a policy programme for the UK. I've helped to assemble a group of organisations with a shared interest in shaping national food policy. We are campaigning for local food infrastructure to form part of the National Food Strategy led by Henry Dimbleby. My blogs have been published by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, LabourList and Sustain.