Heather was invited by Janez Potocnik, chairman of FFA, Forum For Agriculture, 2019 to be a Keynote speaker in Brussels, Belgium - The Next Generation event on the 9th of April 2019. Heather’s 30 minute speech discussed VBites Foods, veganism and the future of plant based foods in the agriculture industry. The audience included people from the European Parliament, Council and Commission, Businesses, institutes and NGOs. This important event combined agriculture and environment, enabling open dialogue to create sustainable solutions.
Heather’s speech started at 2pm (GMT) and lasted 30 minutes, following on with an interactive Q&A with the audience, hosted by Femi Oke
Heather said:
"My key role in life is problem-solving unsolvable things that people think are problematic, but there are simple solutions. We had the answers 25 years ago, let's not be here in the next 10 years in the same situation and lets minimise the devastation on the marine eco system."
Heather concluded that:
"The simple solution for solving a number of issues is that every single person goes vegan."
Information from FFA 2019:
“The Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA) is where agriculture and environment meet for an open dialogue. Each year, luminaries from various leading international institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Council, the European Parliament, the food/farming chain, NGOs, and businesses from every sector present their diverse views to a packed auditorium.”
Chairman of FFA, Janez Potočnik said:
“It was great meeting you, dear Heather, and thank you for all your work and eye opening contribution to the FFA.”
"Forum for the future of agriculture (FFA) was this year devoted to the next generation. I feel profoundly moved and encouraged by their active engagement to protect their future. It is the right time for those in power to hear the echo of the streets and the voice of frustrated young generation. Heather was in her provocative, but honest address offering us an alternative for a healthier and more sustainable life. By practicing it through VBites she is proving that it is also economically viable and attractive. An important message to the current and the next generation.”
Feedback:
“I have been a keynote motivational speaker around the world for over 25 years, The fast Forward forum was the first event where I came away feeling enlightened, inspired and educated by my eclectic esteemed colleagues.”
”This is what this audience & policymakers need to hear: the future of food is plant-based”
“Vegan diet the best says Heather Mills at #FFA2019. Only a handful of vegans in the room. Hundreds of meat-eaters. Good audience to hear this.”
“So refreshing to hear Heather Mills speaking at FFA 2019 about shifting diets and agriculture to vegan future. The growth of plant-based market is an opportunity for farmers not a threat and governments should assist animal farmers to transition their production to plant crops”
Heather wrote an article for FFA titled discussing why she switched to a plant-based diet and how it led to her creating the innovative products with VBites Foods :
‘My journey into plant-based foods’
“When I became a vegan over 25 years ago, I was like most people, ignorant of the harm I was doing to myself, the animals and the planet. Until more recently it seems the majority of people became vegan because of one of these reasons. Mine was health.”
“This motivated me to start to develop meat, fish and dairy free alternatives that actually tasted great. Initially I started with soy protein as this was readily available and a complete amino acid, but as time passed I started to work with pea protein combined with oat, then algal oils, thinking this could be grown in Europe by farmers to move them away from the heavily subsidised dairy industry. From these varieties of proteins my team and I developed over 130 exact replication of meat, fish and dairy alternate products for parallel eating.”
- Heather Mills
Closing remarks by Janez Potocnik:
“Make no mistake, reforming our food and economic systems to a circular model represents probably the most profound shift since the Industrial Revolution. But that is also its promise; in remaking our world we will create the jobs and prosperity we need. “
More than 1300 people registered for the event and you can visit FFA’s Facebook or FFA’s Twitter for more information.
#FFA2019
#thenextgeneration
#NextGen
Location:
The Square,
Glass Entrance
rue Mont des Arts
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium