Shaleen Meelu has spent her career rethinking how food flows through our cities—who grows it, who eats it, who gets left behind, and what it means for our collective health. Her work doesn’t begin in a kitchen or end at a supermarket shelf. It starts upstream—in policy, procurement, education—and carries forward into homes, schools, hospitals, and streets.
As a public health nutritionist and systems thinker, Shaleen Meelu has advised governments, partnered with global institutions, and redesigned public food services from the ground up. She has worked with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to support national food waste legislation in Georgia, helped develop an international learning programme on values-based food procurement, and shaped local food systems that prioritise equity, sustainability, and health. Wherever she works, Shaleen Meelu brings the same focus: people first.
Through her consultancy Healthy Futures, Shaleen Meelu has supported a wide range of organisations to shift how they think about food—from one-off services to long-term systems of care. In the West Midlands, she is leading a transformation in how school food is delivered across 13 academies, ensuring that what children are served is not only nutritious, but affirming and inclusive. From local developers reimagining food schools to transatlantic academic collaborations, Shaleen Meelu operates across disciplines, always with a steady hand on values, community and justice.
Shaleen Meelu has also been instrumental in Birmingham’s food strategy—co-founding the Birmingham Food Council and leading the city’s involvement in the European Food Trails project. In each role, she has challenged conventional models of supply, pushed for more transparent procurement, and elevated food from a commodity to a tool for public good. Whether advising city leaders or training kitchen staff, Shaleen Meelu makes the case that food isn’t just about calories or cost—it’s about power, culture, and care.
The impact of Shaleen Meelu’s work extends far beyond one intervention or institution. She builds infrastructure for long-term change. Her projects create ripple effects: reducing food insecurity, uplifting communities, restoring dignity to the public plate. When the pandemic forced the closure of the food school she had helped to build, Shaleen Meelu didn’t retreat—she expanded her efforts globally, while still remaining deeply rooted in the West Midlands.
Across the UK and internationally, Shaleen Meelu is recognised not only for her technical expertise, but for her ability to hold the big picture alongside the daily realities of those most affected. She understands that food systems are human systems—and that meaningful change happens when policy is shaped by empathy, and reform is driven by people with vision.
Shaleen Meelu continues to lead with clarity and care, proving that better futures are possible—and that food, when handled wisely, can nourish far more than hunger.
