Running from 2009-2013, the project will take a highly interdisciplinary approach to address sustainability questions and includes a consortium of 14 internationally recognised institutions and organisations. Topics that will be addressed during the project will include environmental impacts, impacts of trade on local livelihoods and public health, food safety including contaminants and traceability concerns, and barriers to trade.

Life cycle analysis will be used to explore energy and material costs embedded in the global value-chains. Food ethicists will also examine the value-laden nature of sustainability decisions during the project i.e. who decides which qualities are significant in relation to sustainability.