People suffering chronic poverty must find food to eat. Poverty foods have varied across time, place, and culture, ranging from the products of subsistence agriculture and foraging to mass-produced industrial foods. The recent rise of starvation as a weapon of war and oppression has lent increased urgency to the theme of Poverty Food, chosen in 2023 as the topic for the 2026 Oxford Food Symposium. We invite proposals on this theme from any number of disciplines and especially welcome approaches exploring how lived experiences of poverty translate into dietary practices.
Keynote speakers
Dr Julian Baggini
Dr Julian Baggini is an author, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and member of the Food Ethics Council
Dr Zachary Nowak
Dr Zachary Nowak is the Director of the Umbra Institute and a Lecturer at the Harvard University Extension School
Ms Elizabeth Mpofu
Ms Elizabeth Mpofu is the former General Coordinator of La Via Campesina and an organic farmer and activist
Guest Chefs
Tom Hunt
Tom Hunt is an award-winning eco-chef, food sustainability consultant, and Guardian columnist dedicated to transforming the way we eat for the better
Elisabeth Luard
Elisabeth Luard, is a food writer, memoirist and illustrator who’s been writing about life, liberty and cookery in books, magazines and newspapers for forty years
Yeshi Jampa and Julie Kleeman
Together they own and run the Oxford-based Taste Tibet restaurant and festival food stall
OFS Young Chefs inspired by…
Dee Woods is an award-winning food system leader and celebrated nomadic cook in the kitchen of food sovereignty
Book Your Place
The campus layout at St Catherine’s may be the same as last year so we are restricted to 220 Symposiasts. Priority will be given to residential and non-residential places.
Subject to availability single day and individual meal tickets will not be available until June.
Please note that twin rooms are now sold out. If you would like to be put on a waiting list for cancellations, please apply here
Please login or create an account to purchase tickets.
Subsidised student places
The American Friends of the Oxford Symposium and the Julia Child Foundation subsidise 50% of the cost of a limited number of places at the Symposium for Students.
If you are interested in applying please fill out the form below.
Young Chefs grants
The American Friends of the Oxford Symposium and the Julia Child Foundation also annually sponsor the Young Chef Grants, designed to bring several early career food professionals to experience both the academic and practical guises of the Symposium. Young Chef Grants are awarded to culinary professionals with not more than ten years in the industry.
Applications for the Young Chef Grants now closed.
What to expect
The Weekend promises distinguished keynote talks, paper panels in parallel sessions, curriculum-inspired meals prepared by guest chefs, and other educational and social activities. The Symposium is open to all; no academic qualifications are required, but space is limited, so book early to guarantee a spot in college.
We are refreshing the Symposium format to create a more flexible and engaging experience for all symposiasts—whether you join us in person at St Catz or participate entirely online.
To learn more about our monthly events — Kitchen Table Conversations, Sifter:The Ask, Kitchen Lab,
please sign up to our monthly newsletter.
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