MSc research into comparative carbon footprints of local and non-local bread

with Transition Edinburgh South

Transition Edinburgh South (TES) are a community-led initiative working to strengthen local social and economic resilience and to prepare for a future with less oil and a changing climate.

One of the projects currently being set up is a Bread Share Scheme where local residents are asked to pay for a year’s worth of bread upfront in order to guarantee a local organic producer the purchase of his yield.  This provides a fair-trade income for the producer that due to economies-of-scale, would otherwise be difficult to get on the open market whilst creating a localised supply-chain for this staple food.  This localised supply-chain cuts out the so-called middle-men, making it possible to provide good quality, affordable organic bread to Edinburgh city residents.  The longer-term aim is to find half a dozen or so farmers who are able to provide flour to a number of bakers in the city widening the scope and accessibility of local and organic bread in Edinburgh.

We are looking for a post-graduate student to trace the carbon footprint of one of our local organic loaves over its whole life-cycle from plough to plate, and to compare this with the footprint of a standard supermarket loaf.

The research will be an ideal project for students from MSc Environmental Sustainability or MSc Environment and Society programmes.

A member of TES will be happy to act as an external supervisor and to introduce the student to the farmers and bakers involved in the scheme.  Andrew Whitley, renown baker and author of Bread Matters, is also happy to act as a mentor for the student.  We feel this research will provide an enjoyable and exciting opportunity for any student to be involved in.

Please contact Roland Playle  for more information;

roland@transitionedinburghsouth.org.uk

Upcoming events

Research Evening:  Academia meets Transition (5pm on 22nd February, Seminar Room 1, Chrystal Macmillan)

Theme: ‘Transition – Change and The Future’

Past Event:

18th November: Research Evening – A thought provoking endeavour

Transition and Research

The transition movement is attracting a lot of interest from the academic community the world over. As the first University-based transition movement, Transition Edinburgh University is opening the doors on our project to facilitate academic research into and around the transition movement at the University of Edinburgh.

We have already been the focus of several pieces of research.  We aim to evaluate the impact Transition is having on the lifestyle of the University community and invite you to assist that effort with your own research. As part of this initiative, we aim to support the development of new research initiatives as well publicise research underway and completed.

We have created this compilation of ideas to help you think about the diversity of related themes and areas into which you could venture for your research projects. However, an important point here is that this list is only a starting point and is meant to stimulate thinking along the lines of these themes, which in themselves are not exhaustive.

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