Michael Morpurgo Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

Former Children’s Laureate Sir Michael Morpurgo talks about his charity, Farms for City Children, and about encouraging children to develop a relationship with the natural world, his passion for animal welfare, and the importance of humane and sustainable farming. The event is the festival’s third annual hosting of Compassion in World Farming’s Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture, named in honour of the charity’s founder, a British farmer, who became horrified at the development of factory farming.
 
Morpurgo is one of the UK’s best-loved writers for children. Many of his best-known works have a relationship with the natural and animal world at their heart, including The Butterfly Lion, Running Wild, and Born to Run. Morpurgo often calls Farms for City Children, the charity he founded with his wife Clare over 40 years ago, his best story ever. The three farms in the countryside have been visited by 100,000 children from cities. They promote a vision of a world where all children and young people benefit from being connected to food, farming and the natural world. His latest series of farm stories, such as Barney the Horse and Other Tales from the Farm, are inspired by the farms.

Morpurgo’s books have sold more than 35 million copies. He has written more than 150 books, has served as Children’s Laureate, and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.  He will speak for 20 minutes before a short discussion with chief executive of Compassion in World Farming Philip Lymbery. Morpurgo is among a list of ‘visionaries’ who support Compassion in World Farming’s vision for sustainable and humane farming methods.

The first Peter Roberts Memorial 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. The festival has hosted lectures by the wildlife presenter Chris Packham and by the actress Joanna Lumley. 

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.