FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH CENTER AT UVM

A MORE FAIR, JUST, AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY STARTS WITH FOOD

Food unites us. We all need to eat. That’s why we can address some of our most pressing issues, like climate change, poverty, and disease, by addressing our food and farming systems.

The UVM Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) is the first USDA-funded lab in the U.S. to study the complex interconnections between the economic, environmental, and social components of the food system regionally.

Our interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary focus allows us to bridge the gap between nutrition and sustainable agriculture research for more impactful discoveries.

Our one-of-a-kind research center is:

Cross-functional
We break down preconceived notions and siloed thinking by bringing together researchers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.		Focused on small and medium farms in the Northeast
Vibrant food systems support operations across a range of scales. In the U.S., 89% of farms are small.* We look at their relationship to the environment, consumer food choices, nutrition, and health outcomes.
Measuring and defining sustainability outcomes
Sustainability isn’t always clearly defined, recognized, or valued by markets and policies. We work to give leaders the data they need to change that.		Fostering inclusive dialogue
We encourage compassionate, empathetic, and inclusive discussions rooted in a willingness to understand diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, and points of view.

 

PIONEERING A NEW WAY TO DO FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH

Research funded by the FSRC is unique because it is a joint venture between UVM and the USDA to address critical food systems issues, such as farm viability, human health, and poverty. UVM researchers and experts from many disciplines, from the medical school to the business school, collaborate with USDA researchers on campus.

Here’s a look at where we’ve been and where we’re headed.

  • 2019 - Former Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) spearheaded the creation of the FSRC in collaboration with USDA.
  • 2021-  FSRC doubled the number of post-doctorate fellows in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
  • 2023 - Leahy’s team, UVM researchers, and USDA research colleagues are scheduled to move into a renovated lab and office space in the Joseph L. Hills Agricultural Science Building.

OUR MISSION

We develop solutions for improving human health, well-being and livelihoods, and environmental sustainability through food systems.

OUR VISION

We envision a world in which all people are nourished and satisfied by the food they eat and where food systems sustain livelihoods and the natural systems upon which we all depend.

WHAT WE DO

The Food Systems Research Center at UVM (FSRC) conducts interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to study food systems: the networks of people, institutions, physical infrastructure, and natural resources through which food is grown, processed, distributed, sold, prepared, and eaten. We examine how different parts of a system interact to understand why food systems function the way they do. The FSRC focuses on the Northeast U.S. but considers the relationship of food systems across scales from local to global.

OUR IMPACT

  •     100+ funded faculty, staff, and student collaborators
  •     3.7M provided in research, training, and equipment funding
  •     10M for infrastructure improvements
  •     4:1 external funding return on initial FSRC grants
  •     56% success rate on external funding applications

 

“With our core funding, we can have a long-term vision. We are becoming a high-profile, exciting, invigorating place where you go to do food systems research. Though the research is regionally focused, it has global and international relevance because it shows the world what it’s like to live in a place where people care not only about how their food tastes, but also about where it came from and how it was grown.”
Polly Ericksen, Ph.D., Director of the UVM Food Systems Research Center