The future of food - the future of biodiversity? | Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

Oil palm plantation, image (c) Sophia Gynch

A major symposium on the global impacts of UK food consumption.

Food production and biodiversity conservation are in conflict. Join experts and leading voices from farmers' groups, food suppliers, major retailers, conservationists, scientists, NGOs and policy-makers to debate sustainable solutions to the growing challenge of balancing food security and environmental protection.

Programme: Programme: The future of food - the future of biodiversity? (514.76 KB)

Call to Action: Call to Action: Food, Biodiversity and Wellbeing (246.81 KB)

Twitter hashtag: #FutureofFood2015

Session I: Defining the challenge

Chaired by Professor Tim O'Riordan OBE

Sir John Beddington FRS, ZSL President, Oxford Martin School, The importance of conservation science within the global food security challenge (PDF) (2.22 MB)
Professor Tim Benton, The UK's Global Food Security Champion, University of Leeds Global food security and implications for biodiversity (PDF) (2.13 MB)
Professor Wayne Powell, Chief Science Officer, CGIAR Consortium The global impact of UK food consumption (PDF) (4.1 MB)

Session II: A sustainable approach to food production

Chaired by Sir Brian Heap CBE FRS

Martin Collison, Collison & Associates, Producing enough food is not difficult - doing it sustainably is (PDF) (1.26 MB)
Professor Tim Lang, City University London, The biodiversity impacts of UK food production
Dr Chris Bishop, Writtle College, Reducing waste in the food chain (PDF) (1.06 MB)
Craig Sams, Green & Blacks chocolate, Taking a sustainable product mainstream (PDF) (7.77 MB)

Session III: Conserving biodiversity

Chaired by Professor Chris Gilligan CBE

Dr Glyn Davies, WWF-UK, Food, land-use and conservation (PDF) (1.02 MB)
Duncan Brack, Independent Consultant, Food, trade and deforestation (PDF) (4.22 MB)
Professor Heather Koldewey, ZSL, Balancing food security and biodiversity in the ocean (PDF) (7.51 MB)

Session IV: The role of suppliers: a case study on palm oil

Chaired by the Earl of Selborne GBE DL FRS

Elizabeth Clarke, ZSL, Biodiversity impacts of palm oil (PDF) (2.51 MB)
Olivier Tichit, SIPEF, SIPEF - a grower's view on biodivrsity conservation (PDF) (1.06 MB)
Darrel Webber, Secretary General, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), An update on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (PDF) (1.55 MB)

Session V: Changing the conservation around diet - making the connection between healthy eating and biodiversity

Chaired by Lord Haskins

Dr Andrew Fearne, Norwich Business School and University of East Anglia, Insights from the shopper's trolley: the challenges of behavioural change (PDF) (1.73 MB)
Sheila Childerhouse, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Food for thought? - The link between diet and education (PDF) (395.36 KB)
Susie Emmett, Green Shoots Productions, Steering society to a sustainably-produced diet
Professor Richard Mithen, Institute of Food Research, Biodiversity and healthy diets (PDF) (3.75 MB)

Session VI: The role of the food industry (Sourcing sustainable food: presentations by major food businesses)

Chaired by Professor Tim O'Riordan OBE

Quentin Clarke, Head of Sustainability at Waitrose, Sustainability in the competitive world of the supermarket (PDF) (2.56 MB)
Stuart Lendrum, Head of Sustainable & Ethical Sourcing, Sainsbury's, Delivering sustainable food supply chains (PDF) (3.66 MB)
Kené Umeasiegbu, Head of Climate Change and Sustainability at Tesco, Role of the food industry - Tesco (PDF) (1.55 MB)
Dr Talal Shamoon, CEO, Intertrust Technologies Corporation, The big data of food (PDF) (17.45 MB)

Session VII: UK food consumption: the role of British farming in reducing the UK's global carbon footprint

Chaired by Professor Charles Godfray CBE FRS

Dr Gordon Jamieson, John Innes Centre, Challenges facing UK farming. How science can help solve them (PDF) (1.26 MB)
Guy Smith, National Farmer's Union, Response of farming sector to sustainability challenges (PDF) (1.38 MB)
Patrick Holden CBE, Sustainable Food Trust, The importance of the local food chain (PDF) (770.33 KB)
Dr Tara Garnett, University of Oxford, Scope and limitations of sustainable intensification in addressing food security challenges (PDF) (525.17 KB)

Session VIII: Providing solutions

Chaired by Sir John Sulston FRS

Open discussion with panellists:

Allan Buckwell, Institute for European Environmental Policy
Emily Hawkes, John Innes Centre
Sharla Halverson, Nestlé
Dr Duncan Williamson, WWF-UK

Further information

Food for humans and conservation are in conflict. The challenge for humanity is how is to produce more food for more people on less land and with less environmental impact. Feeding people should not come at the expense of biodiversity. Even if everything remains unchanged, the struggle will be to provide enough food for the human population because of climate change, urbanisation and land degradation.

The number of mouths to feed is expected to have increased in 2050 by two billion. Demand for improved food quality will also grow as more people move out of poverty. How can the food demands of a larger global population be met without further loss of biodiversity? The need for far-sighted action is imperative to ensure that supplies of food for people and animals are to be produced sustainably.

The aim of this symposium is to find ways to avoid these otherwise seemingly inevitable conflicts. As a major conservation organisation, ZSL is eager to find solutions.

This symposium will bring together conservationists and interested parties who represent all levels of the food-production chain, including scientists, economists, farmers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. Issues such as achieving greater coordination between conservationists and the producers of crops (e.g. palm oil and soya) applying scientific knowledge to utilise agricultural land more efficiently and the impact of the UK’s global food footprint, will be discussed. Changing consumer behaviour to eating more healthily, and encouraging consumption of edible proteins that can be produced with fewer resources than, for example, grain-fed beef, will also be considered.

What are the strategies that could simultaneously deliver sustainable food supplies and biodiversity conservation?

Solutions cannot be implemented overnight and it will be necessary to use a step-by-step approach to address the issues. Therefore the focus of this two-day symposium will be on how to transform the conversation about diet, change behaviour and reduce the conflicts between food production, consumption and conservation.

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