About

The Urban Food Initiative is a public health consultancy and platform examining how urban food systems shape nutrition quality, behaviour, and structural inequities in rapidly urbanising LMICs. Founded by a public health and nutrition specialist with grounded field experience across Africa’s food security landscape, it bridges rigorous research with practical behaviour change and NCD prevention frameworks.

The Initiative delivers applied solutions, community led training, and evidence driven insight that strengthen food security, improve nutrition literacy, and support long‑term resilience.

“No society can thrive when access to nourishment depends on power, privilege, or geography. Equity must be the foundation of our food systems”

Meet Alex

Public Health & Nutrition Specialist and Founder of The UrbanFood Initiative

Qualifications

  • MSc in Nutrition and Behaviour

  • BSc (hons) Nutritional Therapist

  • Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Education

  • Montessori International Diploma

My work in public health and nutrition is rooted in understanding how everyday realities shape how people eat, live, and feel. I focus on the intersections of nutrition, behaviour change, and structural equity looking beyond individual choices to the wider systems that influence them.

A woman with long reddish-brown hair and blue eyes taking a selfie near the water at sunset, with mountains and boats in the background.

Experience

Much of my perspective comes from field experience in South Africa, having worked with the largest food bank in Africa to develop a nutrient profile model specific to a food banks donations. Visiting community based organisations (CBOs) to understand lived realities, collaborating with stakeholders and contributing to programmes such as a mother and child. Collaborating with a team at a community food garden to develop a practical nutrition and NCD awareness course shaped by local constraints and lived experience.

These experiences grounded me in the realities of food insecurity, ultra‑processed food exposure, and the daily pressures that shape nutrition decisions in low‑ and middle‑income contexts. Through The UrbanFood Initiative, I bring this insight into my consultancy work, partnering with community based organisations (CBOs) to design behaviour‑informed training, NCD prevention modules, and practical tools that strengthen nutrition literacy and support long‑term health.