New Research for Sustainable Food Futures Webinar | 2nd September 2025
Published: 6 August 2025
From Market Gardens to Plant-Based Cheese from Peas – Findings from two SCAF Pump Priming Projects from Round 1
Date & Time: 2nd September 2025, 1pm
Researchers from two SCAF-funded pump priming projects present their findings and next steps.
Join this webinar to hear from Ana Peña del Valle, The James Hutton Institute, on how market gardens can improve the resilience of the Scottish agri-food system, and Dr Oonagh Markey, Loughborough University, on the textural and sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of a yellow split pea-enriched plant-based cheese (PBC) prototype.
This webinar is for anyone interested in the topics or in learning more about collaborative research design and its benefits.
Ana Peña del Valle - Where could Market Gardens go? Assessment of environmental, social, and infrastructural constraints across Scotland.
Ana Peña del Valle is a MDT Research Fellow at The James Hutton Institute and holds the Macaulay Development Trust Research Fellowship in Sustainable Food Systems. She is an action researcher working with stakeholders and interdisciplinary researchers in Scotland to identify pathways to increase the impact of local food systems with respect to supporting national scale nutritional sustainability and food supply resilience. She is currently focusing on the extent to which the current institutional environment is conducive to integrating local small-scale producers in the public procurement and distribution system as a way of supporting local economies.
Alongside her colleagues, Matt Hare, Margaret McKeen, and Clem Sandison, the pump priming project explored the premise that market gardens should be regarded as an important sector to support in order to improve the resilience of the Scottish agri-food system – as a whole - in the face of future shocks, by increasing the proportion of fresh vegetable production that this sector could contribute to Scotland’s food system. The project therefore sought to test an innovative participatory systems approach to collaboratively map with market gardeners, where the numbers of market gardens could be increased across Scotland, with a particular emphasis on land, socio-economic and infrastructural constraints.
Dr Oonagh Markey - From legumes to cheese: Evaluating the physical and sensory properties of a yellow split pea Cheddar-style prototype and the impact of food description messaging on omnivore acceptance
Dr Oonagh Markey is a Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences at Loughborough University and a Registered Nutritionist (Nutrition Science). Her research focuses on dietary strategies to promote cardiometabolic health across the lifecourse, and she integrates consumer acceptance into aspects of this work. Oonagh sits on The Nutrition Society’s Science Committee and leads their theme on Nutrition in the Treatment, Management and Prevention of Disease. She serves on the Journal of Nutrition Editorial board and contributes to the World Health Organization’s guideline development group on tropical oil consumption.
To support the transition toward sustainable food systems, plant-based cheeses (PBCs) made with plant proteins (e.g., legumes) are needed. While appealing, sensory-focused language enhances the appeal of plant-based foods among omnivores more than vegan or sustainability messaging, its impact on PBCs remains underexplored. Oonagh's talk will present findings from the SCAF-funded project evaluating the textural and sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of a yellow split pea-enriched PBC prototype. Key findings will be discussed along with directions for future research. Supporting dietary transitions among omnivores will require both product reformulation and communication strategies that highlight and enhance sensory qualities.
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SCAF Webinar Series
We host a series of online webinars every 6 weeks to showcase the depth and breadth of work relevant to the alliance. Webinars are held either during the working day at 1pm, or in the evening, at 7pm. Each webinar will feature two speakers presenting for ~20 minutes, followed by a discussion and Q&A.
We are looking for speakers! Whilst we aim for a research and innovation focus, we would like to feature the work across sectors and disciplines within the broader topic of food. Early career members are particularly encouraged to come forward.
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First published: 6 August 2025