***THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED***
You know that by 2050 we will need to double world food production to feed the 9.7B people living on the planet.
You’ve read the statistic that it takes 25kg of grain and roughly 15,000L of water to produce just 1kg of beef.
And you’ve no doubt heard that direct livestock emissions account for around 10% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But is any of that stopping you from salivating as you imagine slicing a knife through a tender, fat, juicy steak cooked just to perfection and laced with your favourite sauce? For the carnivores amongst us, probably not.
It doesn’t help that MLA, the body representing the meat and livestock industry, engage in “aggressive promotion” (their own words), spending millions to get us to consume red meat. With meat exports from Victoria valued at $3.3b in 2017-18, and the sector employing almost 200,000 people nationally, there’s a lot at stake.
Sadly, for the meat-lovers, the average 2.1kg of meat we consumer per week is not sustainable (let’s not mention the health implications). It’s time we look at alternative sources of protein.
After all that’s what global VCs, meat corporates and the mega-wealthy are doing. Three of the biggest companies in the space - Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat and Memphis Meats – have received around US$630m in funding to date thanks to the likes of Google Ventures, DFJ, Cargill, Tyson Ventures, Kimbal Musk, Richard Branson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Bill Gates has invested in all three.
In this event, our panel will be discussing the following topics:
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Proteins of the future including insects, algae and cellular meats
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Regulatory and food labelling implications
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Taste and shifting the consumer mindset
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The role of the traditional meat industry moving forward
PANELISTS
Amanda Walker - Co-Founder & Head of Operations of the Lord of the Fries Group
Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Amanda’s journey to co-founding LOTF has seen her travel the world.
Starting out as a teacher in Canada, Amanda met her future husband & Co-Founder, Mark in Taiwan while teaching English as a second language. With a shared passion for their favourite food, fries and creating food made with love, not animals, in 2004 LOTF was born.
On a mission to create a fast food alternative that considered the health of the people, the planet and the animals, Mark’s brother, Sam joined the pair to help transition LOTF from festival-going food truck to a bricks and mortar QSR.
Fifteen years on, Amanda has supported LOTF’s growth to 23 stores and established an international presence. LOTF has become the biggest vegan food chain this side of the globe. She enjoys the challenge of evolving and improving the business so that all involved enjoy the benefits of doing great work and creating great food.
Spreading more great tasting vegan love, she is now also a proud partner in Melbourne’s new plant baked goods brand, Weirdoughs, which launched in 2018.
Alongside hospitality work, Amanda uses her talents and experience working with women in business, as a mindset mentor and coach to clarify their vision and bring their passion to life, experience mindfulness, love and purpose while making a profit.
Avid about inspiring self-leadership as a path of success in life and in business, Amanda regularly speaks at schools and has been a key note at events such as Run the World: League of Extraordinary Women, the Lord’s VIP nights, Empowered Women in Business; as well as sitting on panel discussions including the QSR Annual Convention, World Vegan Day, Wade Institute for Entrepreneurs, Women in Food: League of Extraordinary Women and the Vegan Women Collective. Amanda runs workshops on mindfulness, self esteem, and creating your reality. She is most recently engaged in the role as a mentor for Music Victoria’s Cultivate program – developing leadership for women in the music industry.
Olympia Yarger - Founder & CEO GOTERRA & Chair, Insect Protein Association of Australia
Olympia is a farmer, innovator and a leader in insect farming in Australia. She’s the Founder and CEO of insect farm Goterra, a company that manages food waste and creates livestock feed, using robotic, modular insect farms. She’s also the founding Director and Chair of the Insect Protein Association of Australia. A species of fly discovered in the Daintree rainforest in 2018 was named Hermetia Olympiae in honour of her work in building the insect farming industry in Australia.
Dr. Matthew Ruby - Lecturer in Psychology, La Trobe University
Matthew is a Lecturer in Psychology at La Trobe University. His research centres on “the modern omnivore’s dilemma”– the conflict between people’s desire for meat and the costs of indulging this desire. In particular, he investigates how people decide which (animal) foods are acceptable to eat and which are not, how people reconcile the dissonance between loving meat and loving animals, and how omnivores and veg*ns perceive one another. Alongside his main program of research, he also has a keen interest in emotional and physical well-being, and how people can be encouraged to make more sustainable food choices.
Dr. Joos Meyer - Medical doctor, MBA Candidate at Melbourne Business School
Ticket price includes drinks, light refreshments and a copy of the event report.
NOTE: Ticket prices will change from Early Bird to General from 12am Monday 17th June.
***THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED***
