Landmark Issue 19 2021 SINGLE PAGES

20 LANDMARK INDUSTRY & LEADERSHIP The role that food, farming and forestry must play in meeting the challenges of climate disruption, nature depletion and human health was explored in an enlightening discussion at our annual Bledisloe Lecture. Speaking to an online audience of 275 people, Chief Executive of the Soil Association Helen Browning, said: “We have certainly got to change the way we are farming. Farming is right at the heart of the problems we face now, and it needs to be at the heart of the solution - that is a big shift for us to make over the next decade. “We know we have got this one decade to turn the oil tanker around. It’s probably last chance saloon for humanity to get this stuff right.” In a novel format for the lecture, Helen was in conversation with eminent broadcaster, writer, historian and RAU alumnus Jonathan Dimbleby (1965), himself once an organic farmer. Helen discussed the responsibility that agricultural and food systems have for greenhouse gas emissions, ecological damage and the ability to provide healthy diets for the population. “We have got to change quite rapidly and organic farming is a big step in the right direction. The principles of organic farming… of nature-friendly rotational, regenerative and agroecological farming, recycling nutrients, looking after animals well, having less of them probably but actually farming them in a different way… are going to need to catch fire and be taken up by all farmers, even if they do not become certified organic,” she said. The prestigious lecture is named after eminent RAU alumnus Charles Bathurst, the first Lord Bledisloe (1867-1958), one of the staunchest supporters of the Royal Agricultural College (as it then was). It was held online for the first time in its history onWednesday evening (25 November) due to Covid-19 restrictions. The audience was fully engaged in the hour-long discussion, with students able to put their questions to Helen in a live ‘Question Time’ format, chaired by Jonathan, before the Q&A was opened up to others. Questions poured in covering a wide range of topics including; the financial implications of going organic; the growth of organic retail; the Bledisloe Lecture “The next decade is key for biodiversity, climate change and humanity”audience hears.