Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh discusses sustainable farming with Herts and Essex High School students at Groundswell festival at Lannock Farm in North Herts

Students from Herts and Essex High School joined Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh for an inspiring conversation on the future of sustainable food and farming.

Her Royal Highness, who is married to Edward, the youngest sibling of King Charles, is the honorary president of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), an organisation that nurtures connections between young people and all aspects of sustainable farming.

Ten students from the Warwick Road secondary explored Groundswell, a two-day regenerative farming festival at Lannock Farm in Weston, North Herts, before joining the Duchess on the LEAF stand.

Sixth-former Ahmad Khan, who is studying maths, politics, economics and GPR (global perspectives and research), said: “Today has given me a much more joined-up perspective of how farming can enhance biodiversity and help protect the environment. When it comes to climate change, the food choices we make every day can really add up to make a difference.”

Alya Hanci added: “Talking to farmers and hearing from the duchess has brought farming to life; it now feels much more real and accessible. I hadn’t realised how many diverse careers there are in food and farming or the level of innovation and technology that’s adopted to meet the challenges we face today to produce our food.”

LEAF chief executive David Webster said: “We were honoured to be joined by the Duchess, who continues to support our work to facilitate the understanding and adoption of more sustainable farming.

“It is crucial that we listen to young people and help them form a deeper understanding of the links between food, farming and the environment, as well as the myriad of exciting new career opportunities within the food, farming and environmental management sectors.”

A student’s view, by Herts & Essex Year 12 student Jasmine Charles, who spent Friday (July 4) on work experience at the Indie

The past couple of days have been particularly interesting and exciting for the UK’s agricultural and farming sector, due to the return of the only on-farm regenerative agricultural conference, Groundswell.

The event aims to educate farmers on sustainable practices which can secure food supply for the growing population while preserving natural resources and farming land so future generations can also meet their food needs.

With visits from farming royalty like Yeo Valley, the Clarkson’s Farm TV series production team and actual royalty such as Prince William and the Duchess of Edinburgh, the event was informative and memorable for everyone who attended.

The Duchess, who is honorary president of sustainable agricultural group LEAF, was interviewed and gave her views on the farming and food industry.

“I believe the younger generations have lost touch with where their food is coming from and are therefore inadvertently sacrificing food security for future generations,” she said, in response to a question about the importance of younger people having an interest in the farming and food production industry. This answer highlighted a recurring theme throughout the festival: food security.

At Groundswell this year, food security was the goal and many methods of reaching it were being discussed. Food insecurity is a problem we have faced before, but now it is returning in the form of climate change, soil exhaustion and depletion of natural resources due to widespread industrial agricultural practices.

Guest speaker Dr Pete Falloon spoke about food security in light of climate change, and his insight was eye-opening: “In a changing climate, the risks from extreme weather could impact every aspect of the UK food chain, from farm to fork. There is a pressing need for the sector to adapt and build resilience.”

He furthered this by proposing short-term fixes he believes are needed (e.g. drainage improvements, heat shelter) to system-wide strategies (crop breeding, water policy, insurance). He went on to recognise the need for a “whole system approach” because even with aggressive emission cuts, further warming is inevitable, so permanent adaptation is not optional.

However, Groundswell attendees understood mitigation and adaptation must work in tandem and therefore gave solutions to other problems at the various booths, with methods for such issues as soil exhaustion – such as crop rotation by alternating the types of crops grown in your particular fields each season. Conversations like these and the collaboration seen at Groundswell are what set it apart from other agricultural festivals and give the conference its charming and engaging atmosphere.

Furthermore, there was a major focus on the use of technology to further the agricultural sector – perhaps trying to make up for the lack of technological progress in the industry over past decades. There were robotic devices that could help with seeding, dispersal and ploughing. Many of these were incredibly sophisticated, equipped with high-resolution cameras and light meters. A particularly innovative product, the Soil Acoustic Meter, was pitched by a new company, Soil Acoustics, which enables you to listen to the bugs and animals under your feet.

All of these technological advancements could mean huge changes for the agricultural and farming community and should mean new jobs such as bio-process engineers and agricultural roboticists. The technological aspect of farming was immensely interesting to many people and a part of the industry we rarely see, so Groundswell’s display was refreshing and showed the variation among farming practices.

Overall, the festival seems to be an important aspect in the sustainable farming shift and allows the agricultural industry to enter a new era, with new technology and more thoughtful practices.