The Food Systems Research Fund periodically issues RFPs or welcomes other proposals that align with our mission to promote the reduction and elimination of animals from the human food system. Successful proposals:

• describe high-quality and transparent methods for answering an empirical research question;

• focus on interventions that have the potential to scale and impact the food system at large;

• produce generalizable results which potentially apply outside the social and geographic settings of the study;

• are likely to affect a large number of animals in the food system, which often means focusing on fish and chicken; and

• may support a PhD or postdoctoral project but not a program or candidate generally;

If you have a promising research idea that needs funding, please err on the side of applying, even if you are unsure whether the project meets the fund’s criteria.

We are also particularly interested in proposals responding to the following requests for proposals:

“Displacement” - Using consumer panels to estimate displacement of animal products by plant-based analogues. Consumer panel data track the grocery purchases of a cohort of households or individuals over time. A handful of recent studies have illustrated the promise of consumer panel data for measuring the impact of plant-based analogues on animal product sales. This proposal seeks to expand that body of work with other innovative methodologies and more diverse products to answer the question: Does the purchase of plant-based analogues in retail settings cause displacements of the corresponding animal products? You can see the full RFP here.

“Policy” - Meat Policy Case Studies. Price parity is a major factor in widespread consumer adoption of meat, egg, and dairy alternatives, and these prices differ greatly by country. As such, we would like to learn: a) which economies exist in which the consumer cost of these products are higher (reflective of the true cost of production) and b) which government policies have resulted in a consumer cost that reflects the true costs of production (or in contrast, that reflects a distortion of production costs). Government policies might include, for example, regulations, research support, or subsidies. Policies could be at a national or sub-national levels. You can see the full RFP here.

“Cost of Goods” - Full Cost of Goods for Animal Products. We would like to scope and quantify the inputs and costs required to produce meat, for the purpose of determining potential avenues for price influence.  Our preferred scope is chicken and top-consumed fish species in highly populous countries.  Inputs could include, for example, but are not limited to: (a) animal care (feed, housing, veterinary), (b) transportation, (c) slaughter and packaging facility operations, (d) government subsidies, (e) lobbying, and (f) advertising. You can see the full RFP here.

“Economics” - Addressing knowledge gaps around the economics of the animal protein and plant-based alternatives markets. A simple economic model suggests that the best way to reduce the quantity of animal consumption is to increase its cost of production, reduce demand, and increase demand elasticity by offering good alternatives. The goal of this RFP is to solicit projects that would help quantify this simple analysis. You can view the full RFP here.

“PLMICs” - Identifying paths to reducing growth in animal product consumption in populous low and middle-income countries (PLMICs). The goal of this RFP is to establish a knowledge base that will guide efforts to improve farmed animal welfare in these countries and reduce (or slow down growth in) consumption of animal food products since that growth often means deteriorating animal welfare conditions. You can view the full RFP here.

”New Techniques” - Identifying new promising techniques to shift the food system towards being more plant-based. The goal of this RFP is to solicit projects to help understand the potential of novel advocacy areas or techniques as well as other approaches to reduce reliance on animal products. You can view the full RFP here.

“Advocacy Effectiveness” - Quantifying the effectiveness of existing techniques to shift the food system towards being more plant-based. Proposals submitted under this RFP should address the effectiveness and impact of strategies or approaches to changing the food system that have not yet been subject to much empirical research. You can view the full RFP here.

To make a submission responding to one of these RFPs, or to propose any other promising research idea for funding, click “Apply Now” below.

Apply Now