ABOUT

Vanessa is an award-winning published author in infant and maternal nutrition, a graduate researcher in food system dynamics and agroecological transitions at the University of Melbourne, and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University. To support her practice in food systems transition design, Vanessa brings an extensive professional background of over a decade working in senior management roles in the food system and almost ten years of experience as a food systems consultant. Vanessa has also been involved in the formulation of national food and nutrition policy in the UK, US, and Australia. 

During her private sector work, Vanessa led on improving food and nutrition standards and retail practices for health and sustainability – including developing and testing what are considered to be world-leading initiatives such as labelling schemes, reformulation programs, and in-store product placement initiatives (e.g., removing ultra-processed products from supermarket checkouts). Through this experience, Vanessa began questioning the approach taken to systems change, asking whether these actions can change the system in a meaningful way, or instead, have the perverse effect of locking it in place.

In agreement with international bodies, Vanessa believes that the only appropriate response to the multiple converging crises we face, including climate change, the degradation of our planetary life support systems, and public health disparities, is a radical transformation of the way we feed ourselves. Her attention has now turned towards research, writing, and consulting that explores fundamental transformation of food systems.