Professor Alice Stanton will be giving the Science Lecture on the topic of the health benefits of meat at the 2020 Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) which runs from 7-9 January.
Joining the leading human health scientist will be Henry Dimbleby, founder of Leon and mastermind of the UK’s national food strategy and Poran Malani, a global ‘ad man’ who works with Sir Martin Sorrell on some of the world’s best-known brands.
The Defra Secretary of State and the Shadow Secretary of State will also join NFU President Minette Batters and Craig Bennett, CEO of Friends of the Earth in the first post-election debate following the election.
Commenting on the speakers, Matthew Naylor, a Lincolnshire farmer and Chair of the 2020 Conference said: “For the first time almost 50 years, farmers in the United Kingdom will be working under a repatriated agricultural bill and, with the loss of direct payments and new foreign competition, they face a decade of change. We are delving into society’s challenges to find the opportunities for farming businesses.”
The conference will debate how can agriculture can balance a low carbon economy with healthy, nutritious, affordable food, as well as exploring the opportunities to harness the power of food to unite urban consumers with farmers.
“We’ll also talk about how farmers could diversify into other services for society to provide solutions to national challenges such as obesity and mental health, in partnership with, for example, the NHS.”
In what is likely to be a hotly engaged with session on red meat, Professor Stanton, a clinician-scientist in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, will explain the scientist’s perspective.
Professor Stanton will centre her speech around diet and human health, however, with her strong understanding of meat production and farming practices, she will also touch on the importance of methane reduction as a crucial part of farming’s future.
The Conference will be held from 7-9 January at Oxford University.
