Food and Public Policy course

This course teaches you to think differently about the food system and your place within it. It focuses on developing the skills you need to bridge the gap between research and policy implementation. You’ll learn how to solve specific problems in your work while keeping one eye on the bigger picture.

This module will be run for credits for full fees, or as attendance only, with no credits for a 25% discount.

Taught in the unique environment of City’s world-renowned Centre for Food Policy, the focus is firmly on policy in the wider context of the food system.

You’ll be guided by a highly experienced team, including Dr Christian Reynolds and Professor Tim Lang, as well as guest lecturers.

Who is it for?

This course is for anyone working in the area of food, or who wants to get into the food sector. You must be keen to learn how food policy works and, if you already work in the sector, how your work fits into the food system as a whole.

Timetable

2026/7 Term 1 (Provisional dates) 4pm-7pm

Sep: 28 September 2026
Oct: 5, 12, 19, and 26 October 2026
Nov: 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 November 2026
Dec: 7 December 2026

Benefits

Improve your career prospects by gaining a better understanding of the food system and learning new ways of approaching problems in the field of food and public policy. This unique course is also an excellent route into studying for a full Masters in Food Policy.

This short course module is designed to be flexible in allowing you to study and reach your goals at your own pace. Our health CPD courses are credit-bearing modules that contribute to a University degree or award.

Transfer course credits towards postgraduate taught degree

As a health care professional, once you've completed this course you could offset 30 credits as part of a postgraduate programme, continuing your study with further modules to make up a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) 60 credits, Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) 120 credits or Master of Science (MSc) 180 credits qualification (all credits must be awarded within five years of study commencing).

This course is the only one of its kind. It allows you to dig into the detail of food and public policy. It will encourage you to think systemically about food policy and give you the tools you need to start influencing and leading in the food policy sector – and throughout the food sector.

The aim is to enable you to see and understand the whole picture surrounding food systems, and to use this knowledge to make decisions in your field that can have a far-reaching and positive impact.

Your lecturers will introduce case studies throughout the course, giving you real-world examples of food and public policy that you can learn from.

The course content includes:

• Food systems and how they’re affected by food policies
• The most significant global public policy issues surrounding food policy
• What institutions are involved in food policy and the development of multi-level institutions at local, national and international level
• How food policy is created
• How to work collaboratively to create food policy in a more connected way.

You’ll also develop a range of important skills, including the ability to:

• Think critically about food policy and food systems
• Grasp complex information and make it easily understandable
• Make your case in a team setting, using presentation, writing and listening skills
• Understand complicated situations and use this knowledge to help you make decisions in your area of work.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Work collaboratively to solve a problem in your field and know who best to speak to and work with to achieve this
• Take a new approach to problem solving, identifying solutions to the problems you encounter that you wouldn’t have thought of before.

Teaching

This course is taught over one academic term, lasting for 11 weeks. You’ll attend 33 hours of lectures and carry out self-directed study during this time.

All the sessions are run in the evenings, from 4-7pm, to allow you to fit your studies around your other commitments.

Teaching will include lectures from our highly experienced team in the Centre for Food Policy, as well as external experts. Your sessions will also involve classroom discussions and presentations, either from you or your fellow students.

Assessment

You will be assessed through two written assignments:

• Assignment 1: Written report of up to 2500 words; weighted 40%, with a pass mark of 50%. This assignment reviews a historic food policy using a food system framework.
• Assignment 2: Writing a Policy brief about information gathered from a Rapid Evidence Assessment of up to 3500 words; weight 60%, with a pass mark of 50%. policy brief. A Rapid Evidence Assessment is a quick, structured review that applies systematic methodology to summarize what is known about a topic. A policy brief is a short, highly focused document that translates that evidence into actionable recommendations for decision-makers. These are the kind of document you’ll be producing when you start work in this field.

Learning Routes

This module has two routes namely, "CPD for attendance only" and "CPD for credits":

1. CPD “for attendance only” route: for students that wish to take this module as attendance only, this will grant you access to all lectures and online learning materials on Moodle. However, this route does not include the assessments, therefore you will not achieve any academic credits upon completion. A 25% discount is applied to the module fee. You will also receive a certificate of attendance at the end of the academic term.

2. CPD “for credits” route (Attendance & Assessment): for students that wish to take this module with assessments, this route will grant you access to all the lectures and online learning materials on Moodle. Upon successful completion of the assessment, you will have achieved the respective academic credits, as per individual module (there will range from 15 to 30 credits). No discount is applied to the module and the full fee will need to be paid.

For attendance only: 25% discount applied to the full fee (Please note: fees for overseas students will be a different rate, as per original fees on website)

For credit: (Attendance & Assessment): Full fees apply, as per individual module.

This course is provided by the School of Health & Medical Sciences.

Credits

This course is worth 30 credits toward eligible programmes.

You don’t need any specific qualifications for this course, but you do need a keen interest in the food sector .

English requirements

If your first language is not English, one of the following is required:

• A first degree from a UK university
• A first degree from an overseas institution recognised by City, University of London as providing adequate evidence of proficiency in the English language, for example, from institutions from Australia, Canada or the United States of America.
• International English Language Test Service (IELTS) a score of 7.0 is required with no subtest below 7.0
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) score 72 required
• TOEFL 100 overall with 24 in Writing, 20 in Listening, 19 Reading and 20 Speaking
• Other evidence of proficiency in the English language, which satisfies the board of studies concerned, including registration with your professional regulator.