January 2018 – April 2019
In the UK, we enjoy a year-round supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from here and abroad. However, much of it comes from water-stressed regions, including East Anglia and South Africa. Therefore, the fresh fruit and vegetable system, from farm to fork, is exposed to water-related and other risks. For example, what would happen to water resources if we all started hitting our 5-a-day targets? What about climate change? Or Brexit?
The Global Food Security project “Increasing resilience to water-related risks in the UK fresh fruit and vegetable system” aims to answer some of these questions. As part of this project, I have worked on a board game which simulates the UK and international fresh fruit and vegetable systems, to be played by stakeholders to help us understand risk and resilience throughout the whole system.
“Fruit and Veg. vs the Future” allows players to put together fruit and veg systems and pit them against different future scenarios, to see who the winners and losers are and how we can increase the resilience of the overall supply chain. We have held two workshops using the game in Peterborough and London with 24 industry stakeholders, and the game will next be headed to South Africa.