Panel discussion on sustainable food consumption draws over 70 attendees
Posted on 8 March 2024
Chairing the event was Professor Sarah Bridle, renowned for her work in Food, Climate, and Society at the University of York. Professor Bridle, a transdisciplinary researcher, has been a driving force in addressing climate change in transforming food systems.
The event was organised by the York For Life volunteering team as part of the University's annual sustainability week. Donations were welcomed toward the York Opportunity Scholarships, helping to support talented students who have faced significant barriers to their educational goals.
The speakers of the panel kindly volunteered their time, and were a brilliant example of diverse expertise coming together from across the university, the alumni community, and the wider globe. They included:
- Professor Mamudu Akudugu, Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research at University of Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana. Mamudu has been instrumental in a collaborative project with York academics on African Agri-food Knowledge Transfer.
- Dr Ulrike Ehgartner, a Research Associate at the School for Business and Society, University of York. Ulrike is a Research Associate on the FixOurFood programme, researching local food economy initiatives and how they can impact production to consumption in a regenerative way.
- Dr Alex Setchfield, Venturing Business Scientist at Fera Science Ltd. During his PhD in Mechanistic Biology at York, in collaboration with Fera Science Ltd. (Fera), Alex developed a patent-pending microbial bioconversion process to transform inedible crop residues into feed for Black Soldier Fly larvae, and won the Global Biobased Business Plan competition in 2021.
Feedback from participants echoed the sentiment of one attendee who remarked, "I liked the range of expertise across the panel." Another attendee praised the diversity of the speakers, stating, "I liked the range in background of the speakers."
The success of the panel discussion underscores the importance of collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable food systems. Through informed discourse, meaningful progress can be made towards building a more sustainable food future.