Organiser's description (via the AFN Network+):
Labour is back in power, but with a brimming intray for matters related to food, farming, climate and health: There’s Defra’s missing net zero plan; farmer confidence at rock-bottom; fruit and veg growers leaving the sector; increasing health inequalities, and the NHS in ‘serious trouble’. All of this while facing a more unstable world politically and climatically, and what looks like very big budget cuts domestically. Yet food and farming do not feature as one of Starmer’s five key ‘missions’, so where does that leave it?
One hundred days into Labour being in office, we will examine what the new government has done so far, and look for evidence about where things might be heading. Our two speakers spend their time trying to understand the workings of policy in food and farming and will help us delve into this topic.
They are; Hannah Brinsden, head of food policy and advocacy at The Food Foundation, and Andrew Meredith, editor of Farmers Weekly. The webinar will be chaired by Jez Fredenburgh, Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the AFN Network+.
About Hannah
Dr Hannah Brinsden is Head of Policy and Advocacy at The Food Foundation where she oversees their policy and public affairs portfolio. Hannah previously worked for the World Obesity Federation as Director of Policy and has extensive experience in food, health and obesity policy at the national and international level. Hannah has a PhD in Food Policy from City, University of London and a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science from The University of Reading.
About Andrew
Andrew has been Farmers Weekly’s Editor since January 2021 after first doing stints on the business and arable desks. He is the youngest editor in the magazine’s 90-year history. Before joining the team, he studied agriculture at Aberystwyth University and then worked on his family’s upland beef and sheep farm in mid Wales as well as at Welshpool Livestock Market as a drover.
About the webinar series
This webinar is part of a monthly series run by the AFN Network+ which explores net zero in the UK agri-food system with leading movers and shakers. Expect deep and varied insight from across the sector, including farmers, scientists, policy analysts, community leaders, retailers, politicians, businesses and health professionals. The series is organised by Jez Fredenburgh, our Knowledge Exchange Fellow, and Prof Neil Ward, AFN Co-lead and Professor of rural geography. Jez and Neil are based in the School of Environmental Sciences, and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, at the University of East Anglia.
