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On Thursday 31st March, in a talk for the Cambridge Festival 2022, Dr Sarah Steele, of the Intellectual Forum and , and Emyr Davies, former intern at the Intellectual Forum, explored the levels of influence exercises over public policy. They questioned how we can build healthier food environments for children in the UK.

They argued that extensive publicity calls out – and even blames – caregivers for poor childhood nutrition, especially paediatric obesity. Caregivers are told that they should just choose healthier food for their children.

However, well-publicised research and investigative reporting have upended many long-held nutritional beliefs and debunked ‘choice’ rhetoric. Many have acknowledged that parental influence is not capable of correcting the course of poor childhood nutrition. Politics and industry influences are significant, Sarah and Emyr claimed, and need to be addressed.

They highlighted the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, when public policy measures to improve childhood nutrition were often suspended, and how industry and industry groups responded to the opportunities this presented.

Armed with new data from across Cambridge’s caregivers and schools, they questioned: What have we learned for future crises? What have we learned about what works to build a healthier future for England’s children? What can caregivers really do to make a difference to their children’s health?

Sarah Steele is the Deputy Director of the Intellectual Forum at ÌÀÍ·ÌõÔ­´´ and is a Senior Research Associate in Cambridge Public Health in the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Sarah’s research sits at the interface of Law, Criminology, International Relations and Politics, Sociology, and Global Health. It explores how we affect social change around issues that impact people’s wellbeing in contemporary society. Her research continues to focus on cross-border issues. Having held posts at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, amongst other institutions in the UK, USA, and Australia, Sarah is an experienced lecturer and researcher specialising in policy and public health analysis, as well as legal, qualitative, and ethnographic research.

Emyr studied Human, Social, and Political Sciences at ÌÀÍ·ÌõÔ­´´, Cambridge, specialising in Politics and Sociology. His research at the Intellectual Forum was centred around food poverty in the UK. In particular, he scrutinised the efficacy of free school meal provision in the context of COVID-19, along with the effectiveness of support offered to migrants. More broadly, Emyr is interested in poverty reduction in the developed and developing world, and the creation of anti-poverty mechanisms at a local, national, and supranational level.

The recording of the conversation is .