David Barling

Professor David Barling is Director of the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management at the University of Hertfordshire. He is also the University Food Research Theme Champion. His research focuses on food policy, food security and sustainability, and the governance of the agri-food sector. Previously, he held the position of Reader in Food Policy at City University London. He has been the principal investigator and workpackage leader on a number of of externally funded research projects, including EU 7th Framework and Horizon 2020 collaborations, and has supervised a number of PhD students. He is co-author of Food Policy: integrating, health, environment and society (Oxford University Press 2009) and co-editor of Ethical Traceability and Communicating Food (Springer 2008), and editor of Advances in Food Security and Sustainablity 1 (Academic Press 2016).

His research interests are broadly in the areas of: food policy, governance of food systems, security of the food supply, and the political economy of food and agriculture.

Current Research Projects

Valumics: Understanding Food Value Chain Dynamics and Networks [June 2017- May 2021] is an EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action under the Sustainable Food Security theme, with 21 partners with a total grant of €6m from which UH’s grant is €467,590. Grant agreement no: 727243. Work Package co-ordinator & Principal Investigator University of Hertfordshire.

Delivering a healthy and sustainable food economy in the Letchworth Garden City. Co-investigator. October 2017-September 2021. Cofunded Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and Hertfordshire Local Economic Partnership. Grants awarded £80,000.

Governance and Transition in the UK vegetable and fruit sectors: Brexit and Beyond: 2016- 2018 with Jan Moorhouse (Roehampton University). Internally funded.