The forum programme has been revealed for this year’s World Fruit & Vegetable Show, to be held at London ExCeL on October 8-9.
The programme will kick off on October 8 at 10.30 am with a forum entitled Competing Pressures for Land & Food Miles. This will start with an overview of some of the key factors impacting on future supplies of food and, in particular, the competing pressures for land for food, fuel, water, environmental and leisure use.
John Moverley OBE will chair the session, introducing Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, who will initiate the debate on local and international supply and how current conditions are impacting on the nature of the food miles debate. Other speakers include Kenneth Hayes, well known for his stance on food miles, and the chief executive of the Ghana Fresh Produce Export Association.
At 1.30pm, a session called Exporting by the Rules will see John Giles, divisional director for agri-consultancy Promar International, and chairman of the Food, Drink & Agricultural Group of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, discuss the challenges and issues involved in importing and set out some golden rules for dealing with the fresh produce trade.
At 3pm, Innovation in Packaging, with a specific focus on bio-degradable plastic, will feature three main speakers: Michael Stephen, chairman of the Oxo-Biodegradable Association and a recently appointed member of the British Standards institute Panel on Biodegradability of Plastics; Professor Gerald Scott, who has an emeritus chair in chemistry and polymer science at Aston University; and Alan Campbell from the Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association.
October 9 will kick off with a session chaired and introduced by Moverley entitled The Appliance of Science. He will present his thoughts on the place for science in the fruit and vegetable sector and what factors we must consider in embracing new technologies given current concerns, for example, in terms of GM. Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, will then start a debate on the issues raised. The responses will be led by Dr Tracey Brown, executive director of Sense About Science and Alan Malcolm from the Institute of Biology, followed by Professor Julian Wiseman, Dean of Faculty at the University of Nottingham. The presentations will be concluded by
Dr Helen Ferrier, chief science and regulatory affairs adviser for the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
At midday, a keynote speech will be presented by the chairman of the horticulture board for the NFU, giving his views on the future from a UK grower perspective.
At 1.30pm, there will be a Defra PEACH seminar. Ian Hewett, a senior manager in the Rural Payment Agency at Defra, will present on procedures for electronic application for certificates from the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate, used by businesses to apply for certificates of conformity.
A session on Consumer Preferences will conclude the forums, to be chaired and introduced by Moverley, with reference to a recent study of the consumption of fruit and vegetables undertaken by external consultants.
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