New Scientist Live presents …

One-Day Virtual Event: Future of Food and Agriculture

What we eat and how we grow it are changing. The need to feed a growing population, tackle hunger and obesity, and avoid trashing the planet is driving the next food and agricultural revolution. New Scientist Live’s Future of Food and Agriculture is an online event for everyone who cares what’s on their plate. Hear how science and technology is making it happen in a day of inspiring talks across three stages.

Hear about the future of food from the world’s leading scientists on the Main Stage. Discover how farmers are protecting the environment, and why robots and genetics are changing the face of agriculture on the Field Stage. From lab-grown meat to sustainable diets, discover what’s coming to a plate near you on the Fork Stage.

And it’s not just talks… explore a wealth of incredible activities in online rooms hosted by our partners! Go on 360o lab visits, plan your next career move with our day-in-the-life-of videos, meet farming robots, test your knowledge in our interactive quizzes, learn about the global challenges and discover the cutting-edge technologies that promise to feed the world and protect the planet. Whatever your age, share your thoughts and chat live with the scientists and technologists at the forefront of the next food and agricultural revolution!

Meet the world renowned speakers:

Hear from world-leading scientists and technologists and ask them questions about the future of food how we’ll feed a growing population well without costing the Earth. Confirmed speakers include:

Main Stage Topics and Speakers

• The future of food and you | Michelle Patel, Head of Social Science, The Food Standards Agency

• Personal nutrition | Tim Spector, Professor, King’s College London

• Sensehacking our future food experiences | Charles Spence, Professor of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University

• The environment and climate | Jacqueline McGlade, Professor of Environment, Gresham College

Field Stage Topics and Speakers

• How to feed 11 billion people sustainably | Geoff Simm, Director, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, University of Edinburgh

• Climate Superheroes | National Farmers Union; Join us for a family oriented live action Science show from one of the UK’s best science attractions. Meet our 3 carbon combatting farmers as they show how British farmers are working to achieve net zero by the year 2040 and to combat misconceptions around agriculture and climate change.

• How robots are redefining the future of farming | Kit Franklin, Senior Lecturer of Agricultural Engineering, Harper Adams University

• What we got wrong about GM crops | Mark Lynas, Science Environmental Writer and Speaker, Cornell Alliance

• Gene-editing panel| University of Edinburgh panel: Dr Christine Tait-Burhard, Career Track Fellow and Research Fellow; Professor Ross Houston, Personal Chair of Aquaculture Genetics; Dr Simon Lillico, Research Fellow; Professor Joyce Tait, Founding Director of the Innogen Centre

Fork Stage Topics and Speakers

• Sustainable diets | Shoni Bhagwat, Professor of Environment and Development, and Head of the School of Social Sciences and Global Studies, Open University

• Lab-grown meat | Neil Stephens, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Brunel University London

• Why we should eat insects | Tilly Collins, Senior Fellow, The Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

• Cellular food |Anneli Ritala , Principal Scientist at Industrial Biotechnology, PhD Pharm, Project Manager (IPMA C) at VTT

• Sustainable seafood | David Willer, Interdisciplinary Scientist, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge

• Snacking in 2040 – what’s safe to eat and the challenges of Future Foods | Robin May, Chief Scientific Adviser, Food Standards Agency

Addressing the most important issues throughout the day including:

How do we feed ten billion people without trashing the planet? | What should I eat to save the planet? | Will we all be eating insects? | Should we gene-edit crops and farm animals? | What did we get wrong about GM crops? | What does a lab-grown burger taste like? | Farming during a pandemic | 3D-printed food | How to grow eggs without chickens| What’s farming doing to slow climate change? | When will robots take over farms? | Precision agriculture | How farm technology works with nature | Do farms need people? | Fixing food waste | Are future foods safe? | How to help bees | Farming in the Arctic | Personalised nutrition | Sense-hacking and our perception of food

Booking information:

This online event will run from 10.00 – 17.00 GMT on Saturday 28 November. Access to a recording of the talks will be available to ticket holders for the 6 months following the live event. The on-demand recording will be available to view within 24 hours of the live discussion.

Eventbrite will email you a confirmation immediately after purchase. You will receive a separate email with a link to access the event platform prior to the event; please note that each link is unique and should not be shared.

Tickets are non-transferable to any other New Scientist event. All tickets are non-refundable.

New Scientist reserves the right to alter the event and its line-up, or cancel the event. In the unlikely event of cancellation, all tickets will be fully refunded. New Scientist Ltd will not be liable for any additional expenses incurred by ticket holders in relation to the event.

Tickets are subject to availability and are only available in advance through BaadiGoob events. To secure your place we recommend you book in advance.