The future of food: Foresight and beyond

A report of the January 2011 meeting of the FEC’s Business Forum

The UK government’s Foresight unit has launched its much-awaited report on Global Food and Farming Futures. The report looks ahead to 2050, asking “how a future global population of nine billion people can all be fed healthily and sustainably”. The backdrop is what Professor John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser, has called a “perfect storm” of food and energy shortages.

The Food Ethics Council’s Business Forum met the day following the launch to reflect on the findings of the Foresight report. The discussion considered the report’s underlying assumptions, its approach compared with other attempts to consider what the future holds for the food sector and the implications for food businesses in the UK.

We are very grateful to our speakers, Andrew Curry, Director of the Futures Company, and Wendy Schultz, who runs Infinite Futures. Helen Browning OBE, chair of the Food Ethics Council, chaired the event.

To read a report of the meeting, click on the link below.