Founded in 2011, the Food Studies Research Network was established to address the linked challenges of sustainability, nutrition, and food justice. From the outset, it has examined how the production, distribution, and consumption of food intersect with environment, labor, equity, and identity—treating food systems as key sites of social, cultural, and ecological change. From its early gatherings in Rome and San Francisco to more recent events in Pretoria, Osaka, Guadalajara, and Portalegre, the Network has built an inclusive, interdisciplinary community working at the nexus of food systems, human and planetary health, and cultural practice. Over time, it has become a forum where scholars, practitioners, activists, and policymakers compare approaches to resilience, sovereignty, and nourishment in local and global contexts.
The International Conference on Food Studies is hosted each year in partnership with a leading academic or cultural institution. Recent hosts include Università degli Studi Roma Tre (Italy), University of Pretoria (South Africa), University of Guadalajara (Mexico), and Politécnico de Portalegre (Portugal). Each gathering centers on a new Special Focus that addresses urgent questions of sustainability, sovereignty, labor, and nourishment, bringing together diverse contributors from research, practice, and policy. Proposals and presentations are welcome in both English and Spanish.
Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal publishes peer-reviewed research that bridges agricultural, nutritional, cultural, and economic perspectives on food. Articles engage topics such as food security and sovereignty, agroecology, supply chains, policy and governance, culinary heritage, and everyday food practices. The journal operates as a hybrid open access venue and uses double-anonymous, rubric-guided peer review with constructive editorial feedback to support conceptual clarity, methodological transparency, and relevance for diverse scholarly and practitioner audiences. The journal maintains clear pathways from conference participation and Knowledge Community contributions to full peer-reviewed publication.
The Food Studies Book Imprint publishes monographs and edited collections that address the interconnections among food production, sustainability, policy, culture, and culinary practice. Volumes connect theory and applied knowledge, documenting how food systems shape environments, bodies, economies, and communities. The Imprint supports projects, including regionally grounded studies, that contribute to global debates on food, justice, and sustainability.
The Food Studies Research Network’s Member Knowledge Community on CGScholar is a year-round hub for members—keeping profiles, projects, and conversations in motion. Built for collaboration, it offers a multimodal authoring environment with light, community-guided review to strengthen purpose, clarity, and reader context before sharing. Works in progress sit alongside programs, recordings, and calls, connecting conference presentations with our journal and book imprint, and opening structured pathways for ongoing participation and publication across food systems, sustainability, health, and cultural practice. A dedicated Spanish-language Food Studies community supports members who wish to post, review, and publish entirely in Spanish.
The Network is co-chaired by Professor Hennie Fisher, Professor of Hospitality Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa (English-language Chair), and Professor Blanca Rosa Aguilar Uscanga, Professor of Food Science and Technology, University of Guadalajara, Mexico (Spanish-language Chair). Their leadership reflects the Network’s commitment to inclusive, bilingual, and cross-cultural scholarship.
Professor of Hospitality Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa (English-language Chair)
Professor of Food Science and Technology, University of Guadalajara, Mexico (Spanish-language Chair)
Partnerships extend the Network’s scholar-led mission—linking universities, research institutes, and community organizations that share our commitment to reimagining food systems. Past and ongoing collaborations include:
