Michael Heasman

About Michael Heasman

Michael currently blogs at Food Business Ethics (www.foodbusinessethics.typepad.com) and is a writer and researcher on food business and food policy. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London.

In 2008 he was Senior Lecturer in Food Marketing and Strategy, Food Subject Group at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Before that he was Assistant Professor in Food Policy, Department of Rural Economy, University of Alberta, Canada.

He worked on a number of projects from local food economies, food and health policy, Canadian community food security, and on the role of food business in society.
He has taught food politics, food policy, food marketing, food business strategy, social science research methods and international food business.

Michael has written more than 90 publications, reports, or invited presentations, including co-authoring three books - Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths, Minds and Markets (with Professor Tim Lang, 2004 - also translated into Korean and Japanese); The Functional Foods Revolution: Healthy People, Healthy Profits? (2001) and Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food (1996).

He was an editor on three international food industry newsletters - New Nutrition Business (which he co-founded), Financial Times Food Business, and Innova.

Michael was self-employed for more than seven years as an independent writer and researcher specializing in food and health, international food business, and food policy. During this time he worked as an editor, consultant, and speaker in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and a number of European countries for both business and public organizations. From 1999 to 2002 he was Director of Studies at the Centre for Food and Health Studies Ltd, London (a company he co-founded).

From 1990 to 1999 he held a number of academic research positions in the UK including Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Food Policy, Thames Valley University, London; the University of Reading, Food Economics Group; School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Department of Economics; and the University of Bradford, Food Policy Research Unit, School of Life Sciences.

Michael completed his PhD at the University of Bradford's Food Policy Research Unit investigating the impact of government nutrition policy on UK sugar consumption and the response of food business to diet and health concerns.