Skip to main content
  • A Resilient Food Future: Can Wales Rise to the Challenge?
1 of 3

A Resilient Food Future: Can Wales Rise to the Challenge?

Fri 18 Sep 2026 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM St Mary's Priory Centre, Abergavenny, NP7 5ND
Buy tickets

A Resilient Food Future: Can Wales Rise to the Challenge?

Fri 18 Sep 2026 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM St Mary's Priory Centre, Abergavenny, NP7 5ND
Buy tickets

Food sits at the heart of some of the most pressing challenges of our time: climate change and biodiversity loss, public health, rising costs, and fragile supply chains. The systems that feed us are increasingly exposed to shocks and stresses, and the need to build local, regional and national resilience has never been more urgent.

This year’s Abergavenny Food Festival Conference brings together leading thinkers, policymakers, practitioners and producers to explore what a more resilient food system could look like in Wales, and how we can make it a reality.

Building on last year’s discussions on fairness and transformation, the conference will examine how Wales can strengthen its food system to better withstand environmental, economic and social pressures, while continuing to deliver healthy, sustainable and affordable food for all.

Through a series of keynote contributions, panels and interactive sessions, we will explore:

  • How food systems can respond to climate and economic shocks
  • The role of policy, procurement and public institutions in building resilience
  • Strengthening local and regional food systems and supply chains
  • Supporting producers, communities and businesses to adapt and thrive
  • The power of place-based approaches and citizen engagement

Hosted by Miller Research, an Abergavenny-based research consultancy specialising in food systems and social impact and drawing on expertise from speakers including Professor Kevin Morgan, Simon Wright, Professor Tim Lang, Derek Walker and the Office for the Future Generations Commissioner, the Centre for Alternative Technology, and Aberystwyth University, the conference will connect global insights with practical action in Wales.

We will also showcase real-world examples of resilience in practice, including work led by Miller Research and partners across Wales, alongside case studies from the Abergavenny area and beyond.

As part of our ambition to drive forward meaningful change, the conference will support the development of a clear set of insights and recommendations, to be captured in a post-event paper helping shape the future of food policy and practice in Wales.

Hosted in partnership with the Abergavenny Food Festival, this event directly precedes the wider celebration of food in the town connecting big ideas with the people, places and produce that bring them to life.

Tickets are £50 and will include a weekend ticket to the Abergavenny Food Festival should you wish to stay all weekend! Student concessions are also available. Please select the relevant ticket type on the order page.

We have a small access fund available for those who would be unable to attend the event without support. Please do get in touch with hannah@miller-research.co.uk if you would like to apply.

Join us to be part of the conversation and the change.

Agenda:

  • 09:30 Arrival and Coffee
  • 10:00 Setting the Scene - Nick Milller, Chief Executive of Miller Research and Andy Fryers, Abergavenny Food Festival Coordinator
  • 10:15 Context for Wales - Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
  • 10:45 The Reality of the Food Crisis - Professor Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, City University London
  • 11:15 Coffee and Welsh cakes
  • 11:30 Workshop: Actions to Build Food Resilience in Wales - Rachel Tuckett and Ruth Stevenson, Innovation Lab, Centre for Alternative Technology and Tom Bajjada, Miller Research
  • 13:00 Lunch and Networking
  • 14:00 Simon Wright, Chair of the Food Strategy Working Group, Welsh Government in conversation with Nick Miller, Miller Research
  • 14:30 The role of Public Procurement in Building Resilience - Professor Kevin Morgan, Professor of Governance and Development, Cardiff University
  • 15:00 Panel Discussion: From Potential to Production - Unlocking Welsh Horticulture - Chaired by Jenny McConnel, Office of the Future Generations Commissioner with:
    • Professor Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, Professor of Food Systems, UWE Bristol
    • Dr Siobhan Maderson, Innovation Manager Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales
    • Dr Amber Wheeler, Freelance Veg Production and Consumption Researcher
    • Beth Cossins, Systems Lead, Healthy Weight Healthy Wales
  • 15:45 Panel Discussion: Call to Action and What’s Next - Professor Tim Lang, Simon Wright, Professor Kevin Morgan and Sue Pritchard, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission in conversation with Sarah Dickins, Sustainable Economics Adviser
  • 16:30 Event close

Location

St Mary's Priory Centre, Abergavenny, NP7 5ND