Contact
University of Southampton
University Road
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
United Kingdom
About
I am a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton. My main research project investigates how different things become classified, culturally and practically, as food. I am also involved with the REPLACE project at the University of Oslo, which explores meat replacement in Eastern Asia.
Before joining Southampton I was a postdoctoral researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where I was based at the department of Industrial Economics and Management (INDEK) and KTH FOOD. My research at KTH investigated the consumption of offal, 'underutilised' fish and recovered food waste in Sweden. Prior to that I was based at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, where I taught sociology (Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles group) and conducted research on sustainable food system transitions (Environmental Policy group). My research at Wageningen explored topics such as culturally appropriate food, plant-based meat analogues, and issues around transdisciplinary research.
I completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield (UK) on the topic of public acceptance of insects as food in the Netherlands. During that project I also undertook historical research on the establishment of sushi as a popular food in the US.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
- PhD Human Geography, University of Sheffield, 2018
- MRes Sociology, Planning & Policy, Sheffield Hallam University, 2012 (Distinction)
- BA Sociology, Sheffield Hallam University, 2009 (First Class)
Positions
- Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University of Southampton (2025–present)
- Visiting Researcher, Utrecht University (2025–present)
- Visiting Researcher, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2025–present)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2024–2025)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Wageningen University & Research (2021–2024)
- Lecturer, Wageningen University & Research (2018–2024)
- Visiting Researcher, Utrecht University (2015-2016)
- Research Assistant, University of Northampton (2014)
Grants & Awards (selected)
- Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, 2024
- WUR Protein Transition Directed Call funding, 2022
- WUR Protein Transition Seed Project funding, 2021
- ASFS Belasco Prize for Scholarly Excellence, 2019
- Geoforum Student Paper Award, 2019
- ESRC White Rose PhD Scholarship, 2014
- MRes Sociology Planning & Policy Prize: Best Overall Performance, 2012
Publications (selected)
- House, J., Brons, A., Wertheim-Heck, S., and van der Horst, H. (2024). What is culturally appropriate food consumption? A systematic literature review exploring six conceptual themes and their implications for sustainable food system transformation. Agriculture and Human Values, 41, 863-882. Read here
- House, J. (2019). Insects are not ‘the new sushi’: Theories of practice and the acceptance of novel foods. Social & Cultural Geography, 20(9), 1285-1306. Read here
- House, J. (2018). Insects as food in the Netherlands: Production networks and the geographies of edibility. Geoforum, 94, 82-93. Read here