Rocketing prices, rising obesity and competition for scarce resources are of growing global significance, and a conference will bring together academics from Writtle College and the University of Essex to analyse the issues.

Dr Clive Beale, Senior Lecturer in Agriculture Technology from Writtle College’s Post Harvest Technology Unit, and Professor Steffen B�ehm, from the University of Essex, are among the leading experts who are speaking at the conference at Writtle College, Chelmsford, tomorrow.

Dr Clive Beale, who will be presenting ‘Mmmmm…meat, minerals, Marmite, mammaries and manure’ at Writtle College’s Lordships Campus, said: “Every generation faces its challenges in food production and food quality. Our generation is no different.”

Professor Steffen B�ehm, Director of the Essex Sustainability Institute and Professor in Management and Sustainability at Essex Business School will be talking about the contribution of local food systems to psychological wellbeing.

This is the fifth annual conference on an interdisciplinary theme between partners Writtle College and the University of Essex. Dr Jeremy Strong, Head of Higher Education and one of the conference organisers said: “The diversity of topics represented at our joint conference ‘Food’ reflects the importance of what and how we eat. Leading academics from Writtle College and the University of Essex are addressing, variously; agriculture and economics, supply and transportation, health and well-being, culture and pleasure. With a growing human population, changing dietary habits, and the impact of climate change on food production this is a more significant topic than ever before.”

The conference will be held in the Northumberland Suite, Lordships Campus, from 9am to 4pm.

Dr Chris Bishop, Reader in Post-Harvest Technology at Writtle College, who will be presenting ‘Yo-ho-ho and a packet of French Beans! Somali piracy, air freight and food prices, said: “It’s interesting to see how international events relate. At first thought you would not expect a correlation between selling avocados and piracy.”