We face an “immense” challenge if we are to provide enough food and water for the world’s ever-growing population, a conference will hear today.

Local food champion and Aldeburgh Food and Drink Conference founder Lady Caroline Cranbrook believes the solution will mean concerted efforts from many different sectors and will depend on greater understanding and co-operation between our scientists, farmers and the community.

Today’s Aldeburgh Food and Drink Conference, she believes, is the only event of its kind bringing together such a diverse group of individuals, ready to debate and deliberate on the very real challenges our food industry faces.

Around 200 delegates and speakers including big farmers and scientists, teachers and civil servants will hear from a range of people, from Joanne Mudhar, the founder of a community farm project, Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm, at Ipswich, to scientist Dr Gordon Jamieson, director of knowledge exchange and commercialisation at the John Innes Centre at Norwich Research Park when they gather at Snape.

Dr Jamieson will be bringing along some broccoli plants with remarkable health properties to show how science and farming, by working together, can benefit the wider community.

“Our conference is unique in that we are bringing together them all together, to show that food security can be achieved through their combined efforts,” said Lady Cranbrook.

“Everyone has a part to play – local government, environmentalists, teachers, students, ordinary members of the public – and the media.

“Our amazing range of speakers, which include Lowestoft primary schoolchildren, will show us the way forward.

“East Anglia is home to some of the world’s best plant scientists, best farmers and liveliest local food and farming initiatives.

“The conference will publicise these extraordinary assets and show why there is a need for them all.”

Entitled The Future of Food: Food Security – Science, Farming & the Community, the conference will tackle the issue of food security from a global, national and local perspective.