This year’s UK Vegetable Industry Conference and Exhibition, held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough, on February 12, focused on how the industry can become more sustainable, in both breeding and practice, in a bid to reduce the effect all industries have had on the world.
“It is a broad challenge we face in making sure we pass this world on to the next generation in a working state,” session chairman Dr Bill Parker, horticultural research and consultancy manager for ADAS told the conference. “Although, it is the generation behind us that will really have to deal with the effects of climate change.”
Sue Riddlestone, chief executive of the BioRegional Development Group and director of the One Planet Living initiative, told delegates that the industry needs to create a new culture of sustainability. “We need to develop a new way of eating food; celebrity chefs are doing a good job of pushing forward local produce and it needs to become a way of life,” she said. “People need to think about how they get to food shops, which shops they go to and increase the amount of times they go shopping to make sure they are buying responsibly.”
“Fair trading with all suppliers should be encouraged, and not just overseas; a lot of growers are getting a bad deal in this country,” she added.
The conference included a host of speakers from breeders to retailers and concentrated saving energy and waste, strengthening the supply chain and developing new technology to deal with the increasing problem of pest control.
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