Food Studies Research Network

What Food Studies Research Network does

Food Studies Research Network is a not-for-profit scholarly community founded in 2011 to bridge scientific research on food systems with the lived realities of eating, cooking, growing, and governing food across agricultural, environmental, nutritional, social, economic, and cultural dimensions. The organization operates as one of 24 knowledge communities curated by Common Ground Research Networks, a not-for-profit corporation registered in Illinois, USA. Its core offerings are the annual International Conference on Food Studies (rotating globally, hosted by partner universities), the peer-reviewed Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, a book imprint for monographs and edited volumes, and the CGScholar digital community and publishing platform. Complementary products include an Online Symposium for remote participation, Editing Services for authors, and Emerging Scholar Awards for graduate students.

The network serves primarily academic scholars, researchers, and graduate students worldwide, with secondary audiences of policy makers and food-system practitioners. Revenue is generated through conference registration fees, recurring network membership subscriptions (which bundle electronic publication access with conference discounts), journal subscriptions and Open Access article processing charges, and one-time book sales. Member sign-up is self-serve via the food-studies.com website and CGScholar platform, with marketing driven by a monthly newsletter, organic social media, and partner university networks. Leadership is scholar-led and unpaid in character: founding chair Courtney Thomas was succeeded by co-chairs Hennie Fisher (University of Pretoria) and Blanca Rosa Aguilar Uscanga (University of Guadalajara), who also chairs a dedicated Spanish Research Network. The organization holds institutional memberships in the Association of American Publishers, ALPSP, the Society for Scholarly Publishing, and Crossref, and is a signatory to the UN SDG Publishers Compact.

Name

Food Studies Research Network

Legal name

Common Ground Research Networks

Website

https://food-studies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Food Studies Research Network is a not-for-profit scholarly community founded in 2011 that operates an annual international conference, a peer-reviewed journal, a book imprint, and a digital publishing platform serving academic researchers studying food systems, nutrition, and sustainability globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarly Publishing and Research Services

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing (EDAGAFAL), Food Systems & Value Chain Development for Nutrition (BPADAJAG)

Keywords

• Scholarly publishing services
• Academic conference organization
• Peer-reviewed journal publication
• Research network membership
• Food studies scholarship

Headquarters

HQ city

Champaign

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Conference Registrations: Revenue generated from conference registration fees for the annual International Conference on Food Studies. Members receive registration discounts. Conferences are held in-person and online.
2. Network Membership: Membership subscription model providing access to all electronic publications, discounts to conference registrations, and professional development opportunities. Join fees collected via the website.
3. Journal Subscriptions and Open Access Fees: The Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal publishes peer-reviewed articles. The network offers both subscription access and Open Access options for authors.
4. Book Publishing: Food Studies Book Imprint publishes monographs and edited volumes on food sustainability, governance, gastronomy, and food systems. Revenue from book sales and Open Access publishing fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Food Studies Research Network operates a member-based scholarly community that convenes an annual International Conference on Food Studies, publishes the peer-reviewed Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, and runs a book imprint producing monographs and edited volumes on food systems, sustainability, nutrition, gastronomy, and governance. Members receive subscriber access to electronic publications, conference registration discounts, and access to the CGScholar online community platform.

Product overview

The Food Studies Research Network is a member-based scholarly organization that offers a unified portfolio of academic products centered on food systems research. The core offering consists of the annual International Conference on Food Studies, the peer-reviewed Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, and the Food Studies Book Imprint for monographs and edited volumes. These are supported by the CGScholar online community platform for member collaboration and publication access, virtual Online Symposium events, Emerging Scholar Awards for graduate students, and Editing Services for authors. The organization operates as a not-for-profit research network under Common Ground Research Networks, connecting scholars across 24 thematic research networks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• International Conference on Food Studies Annual international academic conference bringing together scholars, researchers, and practitioners to explore food systems, sustainability, nutrition, and cultural perspectives on food.
• Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal Peer-reviewed academic journal publishing research on agriculture, nutrition, health, economics, and culture through a food systems lens.
• Food Studies Book Imprint

Quantifiable outcome

• 225+ delegates from 33 countries at the 2017 Rome conference
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Università degli Studi Roma TrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoma Tre University in Rome, Italy is a long-standing conference partner, having hosted the 2017 conference (co-hosted with Gustolab). Founded in 1992, Roma Tre offers degree courses in Architecture, Economics, Education Sciences, Engineering, Law, Humanities, Political Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Natural Sciences. The university issues the Certification of Italian as a Foreign Language.
• Gustolab International Institute for Food StudiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGustolab (GLi) is the first center in Italy to create and provide Food Studies related study abroad programs to international universities, especially US universities. GLi works with professors, professionals, farmers, entrepreneurs, and designers to create specialized Food Studies programs. For the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, GLi is the Italian headquarters for study abroad programs on food culture, media, sustainability, and food businesses.
• Slow Food San FranciscocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSlow Food San Francisco is a grassroots movement convivium started in the late 1980s, originally founded by Lorenzo Scarpone. It grew to over 800 members and is dedicated to linking pleasure of food with commitment to community and environment. Lorenzo Scarpone serves on the Food Studies Advisory Board.
• National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and TourismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNKUHT hosted the 2019 conference in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The university's founding principles include promoting holistic education for hospitality industries, integrating theory with practice, strengthening industry-academy cooperation, and developing international communication for globalization.
• Aarhus UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAarhus University, established in 1928, is a major Danish university with a strong international reputation. It hosted the 2021 conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lars Qvortrup and Karen Wistoft from Aarhus served as conference chairs for 2021.
• Marymount Manhattan CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarymount Manhattan College, an independent liberal arts college on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, hosted the 2020 virtual conference and the 2022 in-person conference in New York City. Kathleen LeBesco serves as a local co-host and member of the Advisory Board.
• Université Paris 1 Panthéon - SorbonnecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is the major French university in human and social sciences, committed to placing humans at the heart of scientific approach for a more just and sustainable society. It is the 2027 conference partner.
• University of GuadalajaracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Guadalajara is a vigorous community heir to an educational tradition spanning over two centuries. With 280,297 students across 422 academic programs, it is the 2023 conference partner. Blanca Rosa Aguilar Uscanga serves as Spanish Research Network Chair.
• Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías (CUCEI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUCEI is one of the thematic centers of the University Network of Jalisco, serving more than 15,000 students through 18 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate degrees. It collaborates on the annual conference organization.
• Politécnico de PortalegrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolitécnico de Portalegre is a public higher education institution integrating Higher School of Education and Social Sciences, Higher School of Technology and Management, Higher School of Health (in Portalegre), and Escola Superior Agrária (in Elvas). It hosted the 2024 conference in Portalegre, Portugal.
• University of PretoriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Pretoria (UP) is one of Africa's top universities and the largest contact university in South Africa, producing socially impactful research. It is the 2025 conference partner. Hennie Fisher, a lecturer at UP, serves as Current Chair and Editor of the Food Studies Research Network.
• University of Osaka, Graduate School of HumanitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Osaka's Graduate School of Humanities was created in April 2022 through merger of the Graduate School of Letters and Graduate School of Language and Culture. It is the 2026 conference partner.
• Common Ground Research NetworkscoreOthersCommon Ground Research Networks is the not-for-profit parent organization of the Food Studies Research Network, registered in the State of Illinois, USA. It curates 24 research networks and produces conferences, journals, and books around each network. It provides the CGScholar platform, publishing infrastructure, and operational support.
• Association of American PublishersminorOthersThe AAP is the largest U.S. trade association for consumer, educational, professional, and scholarly publishing, with over 400 member organizations including multinational corporations, independent publishers, university presses, and nonprofit publishers.
• Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)minorOthersALPSP is an international membership trade body supporting not-for-profit organizations that publish scholarly and professional content, with over 300 members in 30 countries.
• Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP)minorOthersSSP is a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 that promotes and advances communication among all sectors of the scholarly publication community through networking and information dissemination.
• CrossrefminorOthersCrossref is a not-for-profit membership organization for scholarly publishing that makes content easy to find, link, cite, and assess through online tools, providing a sustainable infrastructure for scholarly communication.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wageningen Academic Publishers: Specialized academic publisher focused on food, nutrition, agriculture, and sustainability — directly comparable in subject focus, scholarly book and journal publishing, and interdisciplinary food studies scope.
• Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS): An interdisciplinary scholarly association dedicated to food and society, hosting annual conferences and supporting related publications — parallels Food Studies Research Network in scope, member structure, and conference-driven model.
• Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery: Long-running annual scholarly conference on food and cookery, publishing proceedings from each gathering — comparable in conference-centric model, food-focused scholarship, and publication of proceedings volumes.
• Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS): Scholarly society focused on the intersection of agriculture, food, and human values, running its own annual conference and affiliated journal — directly comparable as a discipline-specific food studies scholarly society with member-based conferences and publishing.

Emerging players

• Slow Food International: Global grassroots movement and nonprofit focused on sustainable, local food traditions — overlaps the network's member base (a Slow Food San Francisco leader sits on the advisory board) and is comparable as a food-focused not-for-profit ecosystem player, though more advocacy-driven than scholarly-publishing driven.

Others

• Common Ground Research Networks (parent): Parent organization operating 24 sibling research networks in adjacent disciplines — comparable as the operational and platform backbone whose CGScholar infrastructure powers this network.

Broad incumbents

• Institute of Food Technologists (IFT): Large, established professional society for food science and technology with annual conference (IFT FIRST), peer-reviewed journals (JFS), and member services — comparable conference + journal + membership model at greater scale and commercial orientation.
• MDPI (Foods journal): Large open access publisher with a peer-reviewed 'Foods' journal covering food science, nutrition, and sustainability — directly comparable publishing capability and open access revenue model, though at much greater scale across many disciplines.
• Frontiers (Frontiers in Nutrition, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems): Major open access publisher with flagship food-related journals covering nutrition and sustainable food systems — competes for the same author and reader pool and offers a comparable APC-funded open access publishing model.
• Routledge (Taylor & Francis) Food Studies journals: Major STM publisher with food studies, gastronomy, and food policy journals and book series — directly competes for food studies authors and library subscription budgets via established journals and book imprints.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/onfoodstudies
• Facebookfacebook.com/foodstudiesresearchnetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Food Studies Research Network