The co-founder of Leon Restaurants and the author of the National Food Strategy and School Food Plan has been announced as the keynote speaker at a major horticulture conference.
Henry Dimbleby will headline The East Malling Trust (EMT) and Association of Applied Biologists’ (AAB) annual event, which will focus on the timely and vital role the UK edible horticulture sector plays in delivering the UK’s policy for healthy eating.
Held at The East Malling Research Station on Thursday November 26th, the day will bring together a unique and influential mix of stakeholders, including policymakers, industry leaders, horticulture and food scientists, growers, processors, wholesalers and retailers, all alongside a host of health and nutrition experts.
It is designed as a timely and practical forum to showcase what is already being achieved and, importantly, to explore how we can work closely together to exploit cutting-edge research and practical innovations that will support the evolution of horticultural crops and the role of horticulture in the UK’s diet.
“It’s a fantastic coup for us to get Henry Dimbleby as keynote speaker for this year’s conference,” explained Dr Louise Manning, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustee for The East Malling Trust.
“He will draw upon his vast experience as co-founder of the hugely successful Leon restaurants, his outstanding work in developing policy and his current role at Bramble Partners, a key investor in the technologies that will shape our future food system.”
She continued: “There is going to be a lot of discussion around healthy diets and how the horticultural industry will be a key player in food system change.”
The annual conference will feature a second keynote talk, with Professor Martin Warren using his previous experience as Chief Scientific Officer for the Quadram Institute to explore the critical role of food systems research in ‘Horticulture and Healthy Diets’.
There will be separate sessions on nutrition and plant science, ‘investing in ourselves and the horticultural sector’ and ‘how do we improve the UK diet with domestically grown produce?’.
Louise concluded: “Like last year’s event, there is also a major focus on encouraging early career professionals to attend for networking with sector experts and the opportunity to put forward their research projects as one of the featured ‘bite-size’ talks and ‘poster presentations’.”
Other speakers include:
• Professor Cathie Martin (John Innes Centre) – ViTaL D and biofortification in horticulture crops
• Dr Sven Batke (Edge Hill University and Green Innovation Consortium) – NHS, Patient Care & Horticulture
• Dr Eleftheria Stavidou (Niab) – Iron-enriched tomatoes in the UK and consumer acceptance and willingness to pay
• Claire De Silva (Tesco) – Fruit & Veg for Schools programme
• Helena Gibson-Moore (British Nutrition Foundation) – The importance of Fruit & Vegetables in the diet of adolescents
• Professor Johnathan Napier (Rothamsted Research) – Making omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in tomato fruit.
