Staff profile

I am a cultural and economic geographer interested in the geographies, politics and histories of food innovation, with a focus on high-tech meat and dairy alternatives. I am particularly interested in how the tech start-up culture of Silicon Valley is playing a pivotal role in shaping contermporary ideas about what the future of food should look like, who should be in charge of building this future, and where in the world (and beyond!) future food production will take place.

I completed a PhD in Human Geography at King's College London. I also hold an MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy (University of Oxford), an MSc in Medieval Studies (University of Edinburgh) and an MA Hons in Classical Studies (University of Edinburgh).

Prior to joining the department, I held a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship in Human Geography at the University of Sheffield, and was a postdoctoral researcher on the Wellcome Trust-funded 'Livestock, Environment & People' project at University of Oxford. 

Research Interests

My research interests are focussed around three core themes:

1) The material and cultural politics of food: I am particularly interested in the ways that notions of edibility, novelty, and ‘good’ food become established, as well as how they change. I have conducted work examining how alternative proteins have challenged the ontological categories of ‘meat’, ‘milk’ and other animal foods, and the biopolitics inherent to these processes.

2) The geographies and political economies of (food) innovation: my research also investigates the changing economic geographies of food innovation that alternative proteins have prompted in recent years. I am especially interested in the relationship between place and the cultures of innovation, and have examined the specific role that the high-tech region of Silicon Valley has played in shaping the material and economic trajectories of alternative proteins. My research interrogates the notion of ‘disruption’ as always beneficial and benevolent, exploring how alternative proteins represent both disruption and a continuation of the food system in different and problematic ways.

3) Defining global food problems and solutions: Linked to the previous strand, I am interested in the historical and changing discourses of food security in policy and corporate contexts. My work examines how and by whom global food problems are defined, and the “politics of possibility” this creates in shaping the knowledge fields, actors and solutions that become legitimised and normalised.

Professional Activities

In addition to my academic research, I have conducted expert advisory work for the UK Government, World Economic Forum and the European Parliament. International and national speaking engagements include a keynote address at the 2021 Food and Communication conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 'Feeding the world Silicon Valley-style: Place, promise and the future of protein', the EAT Stockholm Food Forum, Chatham House and Green Alliance.

I am a Council Member for the Food Ethics Council and a co-founder of Cultivate, a non-profit UK-based group that supports informed, multi-voiced dialogue about the emergent field of cellular agriculture from UK perspectives. With my Cultivate colleagues, we host an annual conference in the UK that brings together academics, industry practitioners and agri-food stakeholders to critically discuss the opportunities and impacts cellular agriculture presents to UK food systems.

Grants

• BBSRC-funded project 'Is cultured meat a threat or opportunity for UK farmers?' (2022-24), https://www.rau.ac.uk/research/research-at-rau/cultured-meat-report
• National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre, BBSRC and Innovate UK (2024-2029): NAPIC

Journal Article

• Manning, L., Dooley, J. J., Dunsford, I., Goodman, M. K., MacMillan, T. C., Morgans, L. C., Rose, D. C., & Sexton, A. E. (2023). Threat or opportunity? An analysis of perceptions of cultured meat in the UK farming sector. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, Article 1277511. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1277511
• Sexton, A. E., Garnett, T., & Lorimer, J. (2022). Vegan food geographies and the rise of Big Veganism. Progress in Human Geography, 46(2), 605-628. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325211051021
• Sexton, A. E., Garnett, T., & Lorimer, J. (2019). Framing the future of food: The contested promises of alternative proteins. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2(1), 47-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619827009
• Stephens, N., Di Silvio, L., Dunsford, I., Ellis, M., Glencross, A., & Sexton, A. (2018). Bringing cultured meat to market: Technical, socio-political, and regulatory challenges in cellular agriculture. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 78, 155-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2018.04.010