A short presentation by Thomas Ball on Balancing sustainable domestic food production with overseas biodiversity consequences followed by a Q&A and discussion with the speaker.
Abstract:
Despite producing over half of our food domestically (with a food ‘self-sufficiency’ of 60% in 2022 according to Defra) the biodiversity footprint of the UK’s food supply is overwhelmingly concentrated overseas. Not only this, but a significant portion of this impact is disproportionately driven by the consumption of a handful of commodities, contributing to only a small portion of food energy intake. In this seminar I will describe in brief the methods used to arrive at these conclusions and highlight the need to tread carefully in a policy landscape that appears to be incentivising an increase in food imports to the UK and comparable nations.
Speaker:
Coming from a background in astrophysics, Tom completed his PhD in environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia in 2022, where his research centred around global food system modelling and land-use in the context of energy crop production and forestry. Now, he is a research associate in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, where he uses global models to explore the need to feed a growing global population whilst minimising the cost to nature and humanity.