SOUTHAMPTON University Professor Guy Poppy is set to take on one of the biggest roles of his career. 
The Romsey resident is programme director of the Transforming the UK Food Systems SPF (Strategic Priorities Fund) programme.
It will run in stages, the first being a five-year research programme which will give £25 million to various related projects.
The project aims to transform the way people live from the ground up, quite literally by looking at how safe our soil is and onto the wider package of food distribution. 
Professor Poppy said: “Obesity and inequality had a huge link with Covid and diets and the way we are producing food is not only making people sick but making the planet sick too. 
“It’s what we call a `wicked problem` but trying to promote it is a huge challenge. Big supermarkets need to also want to change. The NHS should be a health prevention not a treatment.”
The programme will investigate how people farm and links to greenhouse gases, links between food poverty and obesity, the impact on the NHS and how big supermarkets could take responsibility.
Professor Poppy has worked with Henry Dimbleby, owner of Leon Restaurants who recently published a report called The National Food Strategy-The Plan, which talks about taxing salt and sugar in foods, to incentivise food retailers to be considerate.
The `Sugar Tax` has been widely criticised as it has the potential to force families from deprived areas into further financial hardship. Often, processed food is high in salt and sugar and is cheaper to buy. This has also been noted as a problem within the report and plans to support to those affected is being considered.
Reading university professor, Carol Wagstaff states in her research of disadvantaged communities, 22 percent of people in the UK, live in food poverty which doesn’t allow people to plan or choose their diets.
The long-term plan is to reduce child obesity by 2050 and to reduce greenhouse gases in the farming industry.