17/05/2014

Last night, I had the pleasure of being in conversation with author and philosopher, Julian Baggini, in front of a packed crowd at the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

We covered some tough and testing ground during the short hour, including questions like is food too cheap and how do consumers stand a chance with confusing labels on factory farmed produce like farm fresh, country fresh and corn fed?

The latter question reminded me of a survey I conducted of supermarket managers some years ago, only to find that a quarter of supermarket managers themselves thought that ‘fresh’ meant that the produce came from free range animals!  And only this week, the marketing secrets that go into getting us to buy factory farmed stuff without realising it have been revealed in a startling new online video.

Julian’s recent book, ‘The Virtues of the Table: How to eat and think’ is a must-read. Early on in the book, Julian asks, Food: how much do we really know about it? “Mostly we buy it without knowing where it is from, whether its production is sustainable or whether those who produce it are able to feed themselves as well as us.”

Many thanks indeed to the Festival of Ideas for hosting us last night; to Julian for chairing so eloquently. Special thanks too to  Rathbone Greenbank Investments for sponsoring the evening and the aftershow reception; greatly appreciated.

Next stop on the Farmageddon tour; the Hay Festival on 22^nd May, where I’ll be debating whether farming needs factories, with National Farmers Union, Vice-President, Guy Smith. The next day (23^rd May), I’ll be sharing inside stories from the Farmageddon journey (3.45pm). Hope to see you there.

To get your copy of ‘Farmageddon: The true cost of cheap meat’, click here.