Yesterday, as some of you will know, I launched my second annual report as the Agency’s Chief Scientist – at the BA Festival for the Advancement of Science in Liverpool.  It was great to see the enthusiasm of a live audience responding to our presentation – and I was delighted that a further 500 people joined in online, voting and emailing questions.  The event included presentations by some of the Agency’s scientists as well as interactive events involving the live audience and those on the web. 

I read today that Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls launched Real Meals – Simple Cooking Made Easy, a free cook book for 11 year olds, which contains 32 recipes to help promote cooking skills for secondary school children in England. In the Food Standards Agency, we have always felt that there needed to be more cooking for secondary school children and young people and we are delighted that this has moved a step further forward.

The ultimate aim for secondary aged children and young people will be that they have the skills and knowledge to choose, cook and eat safe, healthy food. This is something that the Agency has invested considerable effort to help deliver through the food competency framework, which provides the building blocks for the knowledge and skills that children and young people need to develop in order to live independent lives, as well as through the many cooking clubs and schemes we have contributed to over the years.

Should we be turning vegetarian to save the planet? It was interesting to read the recommendations of Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who is suggesting we should have one meat-free day a week to help tackle climate change. Dr Pachauri believes changing our diet is important because of the greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems associated with rearing livestock – especially as changing eating habits is arguably more achievable than changing the way food is transported.

The Agency is closely involved with the work of the Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC), an independent advisory committee that oversees the UK's surveillance of residues of veterinary medicines in both domestic and imported foods. The Agency's interest arises from the food safety implications that potentially arise from the presence of residues of certain veterinary medicines, including antibiotics and we know that this is an issue that is of concern to some consumers. More information on the VRC and the Agency's role is on our website.

Our work in the microbiology team involves the entire food chain, from how to protect crops in the field through to when it reaches your plates. The importance of this farm to fork approach becomes particularly clear when new studies, such as the one reported in today's papers on bagged salads, hit the press. Several of the nationals publicise research by Imperial College London that looks at how salmonella and E.coli can contaminate salad leaves. Bagged salads from supermarkets are increasingly popular as people try to achieve 'five a day' of fruit and vegetables. The study, led by Professor Gadi Frankel from Imperial College and carried out at the University of Birmingham, looked at the mechanics of how one particular form of salmonella sticks to salad leaves.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to give the opening address to the 28th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which is being held in Birmingham this week.  My colleague, Bob Watson, Chief Scientist at Defra, was due to give the speech but had to pull out at the last minute, so it was a case of Bob's loss and my gain.  After talking to an audience of more than 800 people in the International Convention Centre, it turned out I was the warm-up act for the Heart of England Chamber Orchestra . They were due to play everything from Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance to Flowers in the Rain by the Moody Blues.  Given the abysmal weather, the Moody Blues was more apt than ELO's Mr Blue Sky...

The London School of Economics (LSE) recently hosted a workshop on the roles of social science in public dialogue on science, technology and medicine.  A member of my team, Dr David Atkins, spoke about the FSA’s social science work and its role in developing our discussions with stakeholders and the wider public.

This workshop on public dialogues provided a valuable forum to bring together academic social researchers and the people who use their work and advice, such as policy makers, including the FSA,  and national science institutions, such as the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science). 

Government and policy makers are among those looking to see how best to use the world of blogs, wikis, virals and so on; Web 2.0 as it’s commonly called. So, at the risk of being accused of navel gazing, let me draw your attention to a new Hansard Society report on government initiatives in this area, not least because this blog is a case study in the Digital Dialogues project on which the report focuses.

It’s an interesting look at how different departments are using this technology to engage with different groups of stakeholders and what works and what doesn’t. As the report says: ‘… while online engagement did not necessarily provide the magic bullet solution to political disaffection, it was found – where successful – to initiate a process whereby public attitudes could be challenged and that new understandings could be developed about the policy area under discussion'.

Last week Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, launched a consultation on developing a new science and society strategy for the UK.  Unfortunately, I was not able to be at the launch held at the Thinktank in Birmingham, but I hear it was an exciting event that drew together a wide range of people. 

Finding effective means of helping people choose, cook and eat safe, healthy food just isn’t as easy as some of us might hope.  We know that interventions to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles need to provide more than information alone. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, the Agency has used a range of approaches to help people choose safe, healthy food and also conducted research to help determine their effectiveness. 

Indeed, it’s a hot topic for anyone with an interest in public policy, judging from the rush to review ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness’,  a new American book recently published on the subject. You can read reviews from the Times online and the Guardian on their websites.