The position of farming in the public consciousness

The aim of this scholarship is to explore the position of farming in the public consciousness; understand how that perspective is informing the relationship between the consumer and the food they choose to eat and identify what the industry’s response to these challenges and opportunities should be. With growing concern around climate change, animal welfare and human health issues leading to a rise in the interest and practice of veganism an increasing disconnect between primary food production and consumers is being observed particularly in millennials living in urban populations.

The current era of widely perpetrated negative narratives focusing on the role of livestock farming in the 21st Century needs to be fully understood. My research will be undertaken to gain insight into the conditions that have allowed agriculture to be viewed with increasing suspicion and cynicism by urban consumers who have become disassociated from the land and the food system it supports. I will identify key actions to inform an industry leadership response to shift the view of farming as a practice that belongs in the past to one that is celebrated by the next generation for its role in shaping and feeding our future.