Henry-dimbleby
Henry Dimbleby
James-bailey
James Bailey
Philip-lymbery-author-photo-for-sixty-harvests-left--rd044-(1)
Philip Lymbery
Francine-stock-headshot
Francine Stock

The Politics of Food SOLD OUT

Henry Dimbleby, James Bailey and Philip Lymbery Francine Stock

Saturday, 16 March 2024

2:00pm

1 hour

Pusey House: Chapel

£8 - £15

Co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain and author of the National Food Strategy Henry Dimbleby, executive director of Waitrose James Bailey and chief executive of Compassion in World Farming Philip Lymbery discuss the world of growing, rearing, manufacturing and selling food.

How do we ensure that the food we buy is affordable and at the same time is of good quality, healthy, produced without harm to animals, and made or grown by people earning a fair wage? Should the government do more to tackle processed and unhealthy foods that are produced to find our ‘sweet spot’ and satisfy the profit margins of large corporations? Is there more that can be done to make food labelling more transparent and educate buyers about how the food they eat is produced? And should we be doing more to ensure young people are equipped with important cooking skills for life?

Dimbleby is co-founder of Leon, a chain of restaurants that serves naturally fast food that aims to be good food and kind to the planet. He is director of the Sustainable Restaurant Association and author of the radical National Food Strategy, an independent review commissioned by the government and published in 2021. The strategy included recommendations for a big expansion in free school meals, greater environmental and welfare standards in farming and a 30% reduction in meat and dairy consumption. Dimbleby has since criticised the government for its response to the strategy.

Bailey joined the John Lewis Partnership in April 2020 as executive director, Waitrose. His responsibilities include the full management of 340 Waitrose branches in the UK and Channel Islands, a growing waitrose.com online grocery business, relationship management with third party customers including Shell, Welcome Break, Deliveroo and Uber. Bailey is also responsible for 55,000 Waitrose Partners, as part of the 70,000 partners in the employee-owned partnership model.Before joining the partnership, Bailey was the grocery buying director for Sainsbury’s, where he was responsible for £16 billion or half of Sainsbury’s group revenues. His responsibilities included buying, merchandising, product selection and supplier relationship management.


Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming and a visiting professor at the University of Winchester. He is author of Farmageddon: The True Cost of Meat and Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were. He has been involved in many high-profile animal welfare reforms including Europe-wide bans on veal crates for calves and barren battery cages for laying hens. He is a winner of the Golden Dove for Peace award for making a significant contribution to the cause of peace.

Discussions are chaired by BBC broadcaster Francine Stock, whose presenting work includes Newsnight and The Money Programme.

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.

In association with Compassion in World Farming

Event in association with

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Cervantes Institute, London The Cervantes Institute, London Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Business College Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Critchleys Accountants to the festival Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Ian and Carol Sellars David Isaac Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Pusey House Founded 1884 Brasenose College Brasenose College founded in 1512 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine

The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Cervantes Institute, London The Cervantes Institute, London Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Business College Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Critchleys Accountants to the festival Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Ian and Carol Sellars David Isaac Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Pusey House Founded 1884 Brasenose College Brasenose College founded in 1512 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine