Mr Hambly explained the perspective of the producer to the audience, highlighting that farmers need the best available tools in plant breeding and crop protection in order to produce “wholesome, healthy food that consumers have confidence in.” Access to new technologies is essential to meet increasing demand for sustainable food.
He also raised the relevance of crops grown for animal feed, as improvements in forage plants can influence the final quality of animal products. Mr Hambly closed his presentation by arguing that processors and retailers also have to shoulder a level of responsibility, and that the supply chain must establish a market that ensures a fair return on grower investment.
MEP Girling spoke about the undesirable consumption trends that have led to a worsening obesity crisis in many European countries, with the UK one of the worst offenders. She believes that plant research and plant breeding has a huge potential to produce better and more desirable food, yet it does not need to be revolutionary. Instead, progress in plant science can result in simply getting more out of our existing varieties.
The keynote speaker Dr Barend Verachtert, head of unit for the agri-food chain in the European Commission’s research directorate, outlined plans for the €10 billion to be spent on research and innovation in food, agriculture, rural development and bioeconomy. As well as producing food, he suggested, we should also be looking at how to reduce food waste, reduce climate change and use land sustainably.
Professor Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre in the UK started her presentation by arguing that “Medicine is not healthcare. Food is healthcare, medicine is sick care”, before outlining some key recent developments that have increase the nutritional value of certain foods. Dr Andreas Sewing from Bayer illustrated how plant-based food can deliver enormous health benefits and how crops can be enhanced to help improve diets. Both speakers noted that the difficulty lies in how to increase consumption of these foods, with convenience for consumers being a key driver of consumption.