The City Food Lecture - 26th February 2019

Dr Annette Creedon, Head of the Food Technology and Innovation Department, and Senior Lecturer Dr Lynn McIntyre attended this year’s City Food Lecture held at the Guildhall in London at the end of February along with three of our students; Orla Mathews (BSc. Food and Consumer Studies), Claire Jenkins (BSc. Food and Consumer Studies) and Georgina Olley (BSc. Food, Nutrition and Wellbeing). Harper was well-represented at this prestigious food sector event, with our Vice-Chancellor Dr David Llewellyn and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Peter Mills also joining our delegation.

Earlier in the day Orla, Claire, Georgina and Lynn visited McDonald’s UK head office to learn about the company’s activities and developments in purchasing, nutrition, product development, sensorial analysis (including an interactive sensory panel exploring the five tastes - sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami), sustainable sourcing and the Farm Forward Programme. The final presentation by Clare James, a Harper Adams alumnus and Agriculture Coordinator with McDonald’s, was particularly well received by the students as she described her academic and employment experiences, and the job opportunities available to University graduates.

Lunch was followed by a coach journey through London to the Guildhall where a special Q&A session was held with the City Food Lecturer, Dominic Blakemore (Chief Executive of Compass Group) and the panel (Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union; Professor Corinna Hawkes, Director, Centre for Food Policy School of Arts and Social Sciences, City University; and Tamira Treffers-Herrera, Regional Head Europe at Rabobank) prior to the main event. A video of the City Food Lecture, where Dominic Blakemore talked about ‘Trust and tech – the future of food’, can be found here as well as links to the lecture report and panel discussion. Following an entertaining closing address by HRH The Princess Royal, all that was left was to enjoy the reception at the Old Library with an amazing selection of food dishes produced in The Clink Kitchen at HMP Downview, a women’s closed category prison. Many thanks to Bob Bansback, the Worshipful Company of Butchers, McDonald’s and MorePeople for a very entertaining and insightful day.

Orla said: "I think it was a valuable networking opportunity and great for helping students build confidence talking to industry personnel and discovering different career routes in the food industry, as well as exploring current issues."

Written by Senior Lecturer Dr Lynn McIntyre