WFU Annual Conference

Last week I attended the Women's Food and Farming Annual Conference at Felstead School Essex. The presentations were superb and gave an insight into current thought and debate in the industry on food and farming matters. The WFU is a voluntary organisation that was founded in 1979. The organisation is committed to promoting an understanding of, and confidence in, all aspects of quality British produce and believes that by representing the best interests of consumers and producers, both the health and economy of the nation will benefit.

There were a number of themes examined during the day at all stages of the supply chain and a focus on producing what your customer wants rather than producing a product and then looking for a customer!

One of the key messages for me was from Professor Jules Pretty, OBE, in his presentation entitled "What's next for the land?" We only vote for our politicians every five years, but we vote for food and environmental policy every time we purchase food. Globally individuals aspire to the developed world lifestyle whether that is food choices, access to and creating a pastime of electronic media, cars as the optimum mode of transport and a "specific" lifestyle. All these decisions have a direct effect on our health and wellbeing (changing diet and amount of exercise that we take) and on the rate of utilisation of national resources.

There are many views on how we meet this challenge in both the short and long term but the message for me was that, if we are suitable informed we can all make a difference.

How the individual becomes suitably and impartially informed about nutrition, food choices and lifestyle is probably the subject for a future post!

If you want to find out more about the WFU and their work including Farming in the Classroom and the forthcoming Year of Food and Farming go to their web-site through the link on the side of the blog