Date of Release: 12 September 2002
For immediate use

Food production - a question of balance

Prof. Alastair Robertson of the Institute of Food Research will tell this week's British Association Festival of Science of the need for UK agricultural research policy to strike a balance between production and environmental sustainability.

Since last year's Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak, UK agriculture has been the subject of constant review and debate. One outcome seems to be a shift away from a production led strategy to one which aligns more with the protection of the countryside and the rural economy. In research strategy terms, this is likely to encourage environmentally orientated programmes but, in isolation, does this really address the food concerns of today and the need to evolve agricultural systems which deliver to the requirements of the consumer and the market place?

The presentation looks at the need to focus on both the human requirements of food and to deliver them in ways which are sensitive to the countryside and the plants animals we farm. This requires integration of scientific strategy and approach, consistency of policy and joined up approaches across government departments and agencies, a common appreciation of the issues by various links in the food chain, and a desire to do something about them.

Professor Robertson will be speaking on Friday morning during the session on Food Production in Tomorrow's Countryside, sponsored by Horticulture Research International.

For further information contact:

Jo Belsten BSc or Dawn Barrett Communications Institute of Food Research Norwich Research Park Colney Norwich NR4 7UA

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 255 218 Fax: +44 (0)1603 255 168 Out-of-hours Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1692 583 024 e-mail dawn.barrett@ifr.ac.uk www.ifr.ac.uk

Notes for editors:

• Details of this session of the Festival can be found at: http://www2.hri.ac.uk/view_events.php?cat=Commodity& subcat=&page=10212
  &showothers=go&page2
  
• Text is available from IFR Communications Office
  
• The mission of the Institute of Food Research is to carry out independent basic, and strategic research on food safety, quality, nutrition and health. It is a company limited by guarantee, with charitable status, grant aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
  
• The Institute is based on the Norwich Research Park
  
• ISDN Audio available.
  

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