2010 - 2025

An invitation to youth at ORFC! This interactive roundtable will explore how we can use communications to bring younger generations in urban settings into existing movements — particularly food sovereignty as a roadmap toward environmental justice and collective liberation. Given the widespread confusion and lack of hope, especially in industrial and urban areas across the world, it's crucial for youth and those in urban settings who feel isolated or hopeless to know that Indigenous communities…

Received wisdom tells us that polycultures, a farming technique that involves growing multiple crops in the same area, can be excellent for biodiversity by enhancing the number of wild species that occupy the land. However, biodiversity is not ‘one thing’ — we don’t yet know ‘what’ biodiversity polycultures can support — common species? Rare species? How do pests and beneficial species trade off in polycultures? Is there any benefit of polycultures for biodiversity in the…

In the past year concern about ultra-processed foods (UPF) has entered the mainstream consciousness. A growing body of research has linked UPF to poor health and environmental outcomes, and governments are asking how they should respond. This session will explore the agroecological solution to the UPF challenge. If our industrial food system is oriented towards ultra-processing, undermining public and planetary health, can we create the conditions for a grassroots agroecological alternative, ensuring everyone can access…

We remain reliant on peat in horticulture despite the urgency to transition away from its use. Whilst some crops are now commonly sown into peat-free modules, many seedlings are grown in blocks that contain a large proportion of peat. This session will showcase the effort that is being made at multiple scales to remove peat from seedling blocks. It is vital that we keep driving progress towards removing peat from our growing systems and this…

The sustainable food movement faces a critical question: are we truly advancing a just food system? Marginalised communities, particularly Black and people of colour (BPOC), bear the brunt of global food and climate injustices but remain underrepresented in decision-making. Inspired by Eating Better’s Nourishing Justice guide, this panel explores the essential steps for meaningful change, highlighting radical honesty as key to moving beyond Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) towards real social justice. We will discuss…

Crofting holds great potential to increase access to land at a time of overheating land markets. Historically, crofting was introduced to keep families on the land from which they had previously been cleared. These days, more than ever, we need people taking stewardship over the land collaboratively, in ways mutually beneficial for human communities and nature. Creating new crofts can facilitate exactly this. In principle, nothing prevents us from establishing thousands of new crofts across…

The food system needs a just transition — how do we create the conditions for change and ensure no one is left behind? In our current extractive economy, corporate interests have the most power to dictate terms, stifling transformation. This panel will explore the cultural shifts and policy levers needed for an agroecological transition, focusing on justice, equity, and community ownership. We'll discuss strategies to reclaim decision-making power, prioritise a well-being economy, and elevate food…

This session will explore how to intelligently integrate trees into horticultural crops. Both speakers have designed, established and managed agroforestry systems and have extensive experience in commercial horticultural crop production. This session will cover the benefits of trees for horticultural crops, potential crops from trees, system design options, planting, early tree establishment, tree protection, tree understory, cropping tree crops and potential negative impacts of trees on horticultural crops. It will also look at the very…

The UK Government's Post-Brexit policy “Public Money for Public Goods” presents an opportunity for agriculture to redefine its role in delivering food production alongside ecosystem enhancement. A sustainable transition requires a long-term vision that includes social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of animal-based farming and how these systems provision public good outcomes. This session will gather experts across the beef and sheep farming sectors to define the opportunities and challenges in using public money for public…