Don't forget to sign up for tomorrow's webinar ' #Methane , muck & money' with Neil Ward UEA School of Environmental Sciences and Andy Atkins IFEAA. Latest research on farm methane emissions & how it might be possible to turn 'vice into virtue'

Sign up 👉 buff.ly/4cU6EBK

Wheat production is down 15% since November, the biggest reduction in cropped areas since 2020. Oilseed rape is down 28%, the biggest reduction since the 1980s, and winter barley is down 22% at 355,000 hectares, the biggest reduction since 2020.
theguardian.com/environment/20…

🐄To introduce our 'Agri-food transitions to net zero' module on our #Innovation portal, Neil Ward UEA AFN Network+ explores the challenge facing the UK agri-food system.
▶️bit.ly/3VJ0mys
UK Research and Innovation Hartpury University and Hartpury College Farm Carbon Toolkit Amelia Magistrali Aimee Morse

Powerful keynote speech by Dominic Watters about 'Living experience' of food poverty at #24carrotgold BoroFoodPartnership Lots of food for thought.

The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Astronomy 1977, and the rest is history...

📢Applications now open for this year’s funding! We’re awarding a total of £600k to projects that address agri-food’s transition to net zero. £50k per project.
Deadline: 5pm, 30 June
Find out more ➡️bit.ly/AFNfunding

New HBAI data out today also provides an update on food insecurity.

It's sadly not surprising , but it is heart-breaking to confirm that in 2022/23, 7.2 million people were in households experiencing food insecurity in the UK - up by 53% (!!) on a year before.

A🧵 below: 1/x

Today's poverty stats from the DWP are horrendous.

4.3 million children in relative poverty - the highest ever
3.6 million children in absolute poverty - up 300k

2.2 million children living in 'food insecure' households
820k children living in households that use foodbanks

Square Peg has won a five-way auction for Rory Cellan-Jones' 'heart-warming' and 'moving' story of adopting a rescue dog from Romania in Sophie from Romania 👇 thebookseller.com/rights/square-…

'We don't have as much choice as people think we have. And what you should know is that you live in the nanny state, and it's the food companies that control it - it's not government. But it's the wrong sort of nanny, it's the nightmare nanny.' - Tim Benton

Inspiring final words from Judith Batchelar on transforming the food system.

'It's a long journey. Find the small wins and celebrate and shout from the roof tops. The biggest thing about tackling climate change is giving people hope that it is possible.'

#AFNBigTent

'We're the first generation to really understand #climatechange & the last to be able to really do anything about it' - my fave quote from Judith Batchelar to a packed room of #agrifood folks trying to figure out #foodsystem transformation @ #AFNBigTent

Amazing to part of the pannel discussing diversity in our food system and the voices who don’t get included with Navaratnam Partheeban OBE🐄🐂🐑 Inclusive Farm
and CarolineMason14 with the AFN Network+ #foodsystemtransformation

Keynote speaker Judith Batchelar on the challenges facing food retailers in the transition to net zero.
#AFNBigTent

Final panel of the day with Navaratnam Partheeban OBE🐄🐂🐑, Dominic Watters Dominic Watters, Mike Duxbury from Inclusive Farm, CarolineMason14 and Catherine Chong. Insightful, informative discussion on barriers to change, diversity in farming and food insecurity.
#AFNBigTent

'We need diverse voices at the table...There are many ways to get from A to B. If we all had a similar mindset and background, we'd all think in a similar way and solutions would be similar.'

Navaratnam Partheeban OBE🐄🐂🐑 on need for range of perspectives on #NetZero and food.

#AFNBigTent

Delighted to be joining AFN Network+ this morning to say a few words and listen a lot - a brilliant crowd!

East Anglia now has a rainfall surplus of over 300mm over the last 12 months.

Considering the annual total average rainfall is only around 600mm, that’s a lot!

Our first keynote speaker Sue Pritchard Food, Farming and Countryside Commission says you can only tackle the enormous challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and creating a more resilient future, if you take people with you - recognise their anxiety and fears. #AFNBigTent

Watch out for Institute for Government report on this tomorrow.