From celebrity diets to childhood obesity, foreign cuisine to home-cooked meals – there’s no question that food lies at the heart of our society.

Oxford Brookes University’s specialist centre for the study of food, drink and culture, offers opportunities for study, consultancy and other educational activity around our nation’s love of food.

Oxford Gastrinomica is an organisation that is already becoming recognised for its focus on improving society’s relationship with food in pursuit of good health, environmental sustainability and the preservation of distinctive cultures.

Bringing together those who share an interest in food and drink related issues – the public, chefs, restauranteurs, academics, students, writers, broadcasters, and those from the worlds of culture and the arts – Oxford Gastronomica has created an open and accessible organisation.

For those interested in exploring postgraduate study for a career in the food and drink sector, Brookes will be launching two new masters’ level degree courses in 2010 through Oxford Gastronomica. The MA in Food, Drink and Culture will be available via distance learning, and an on-campus, one year MSc in Wine Business Management will also be offered.

In addition, the centre holds the UK’s most impressive collection of gastronomic texts – including the private collections of John Fuller, Jane Grigson, Ken Hom and Prue Leith.

Ken Home has been a Patron since Oxford Gastronomia was launched in October 2007. His involvement reflects his passion for education and for engaging the public in the serious consideration of food issues. He donated his entire private library of 5,000 texts to Oxford Gastronomica and has established the Ken Hom Lecture Series, the first of which was delivered by Lord Patten of Barnes, in September 2008. In June 2008 Oxford Brookes University awarded Ken Hom an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his contribution.

Other Patrons of Oxford Gastronomica include Raymond Blanc OBE, Prue Leith OBE, Charles Campion (restaurant critic, London Evening Standard), Michael Caines MBE, Madjur Jaffrey, Sheila Dillon (BBC Radio 4 Food Programme) and Robert Cook (CEO Malmaison and Hotel du Vin hotel Chains).

To learn more about Oxford Gastronomica, please visit http://oxfordgastronomica.brookes.ac.uk