Chris Packham Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

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One of the UK’s best-known naturalists and conservationists Chris Packham talks about his passion for the environment and wildlife and the need for changes in the way we farm. The event is the festival’s first annual hosting of the Peter Roberts Compassion in World Farming lecture named in honour of the charity’s founder, a British farmer, who became horrified at the development of factory farming.

Packham has not eaten meat for 30 years but says he recognises that everyone switching to a plant-based diet could lead to the ripping up of pastures, hedgerows and flower-rich meadows and spark an ecological disaster. He argues for helping farmers to move towards higher animal welfare and environmental standards – a stance that has led to him receiving abuse from both sides of the debate.

Packham is a nature photographer and author best known as presenter of the BBC’s flagship wildlife programmes Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch. His autobiography Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir was widely acclaimed and reached number 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller chart. Packham is also a well-known campaigner on wildlife issues including as an opponent of badger culling and grouse shooting.

Here he talks to Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, and author of Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat and Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were, in which he uncovers what he says are the myths that prop up factory farming and argues that industrial livestock production is pushing our environment and biodiversity to the breaking point. Packham described Dead Zone as “…an important account and a critical plea for a fusion of farming, food and nature to provide global ecological security”.

The first Peter Roberts Lecture was given by John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods Market, in 2007. Subsequent lectures have been given by others including by Lester Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of over 50 books,  and Rajendra Pachauri during his chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

This event is part of a series under the banner Pasture to Plate® that looks at the environmental and health benefits of raising food on pasture and getting it to the consumer quickly through a short supply chain.