The Oxford Farming Conference

Helen Browning

Chief Executive, Soil Association

Helen is Chief Executive of the Soil Association, a member of the Food Ethics Council, trustee of the RSPB and was recently appointed to the Food Farming and Countryside Commission hosted by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) as well as the BBC’s Rural Affairs Advisory Committee. Prior to rejoining the Soil Association, Helen was Director of External Affairs for the National Trust.

She has had a number of roles in agri-politics over the years, including the Government’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (‘the Curry Commission’) and chaired the England Animal Health and Welfare Implementation Group. Helen was awarded an OBE in 1998 for her services to organic farming.

Helen has a mixed organic farm in Wiltshire with dairy, beef, pigs and cereals.

Henry Dimbleby

National Food Strategy Lead, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Henry co-founded the Leon restaurant chain, before going on to become Director of London Union, which runs some of London’s most successful street food markets. He was a co-founder of the Sustainable Restaurant Association and co-authored The School Food Plan (2013), which set out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. 

He was given the role of lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in March 2018. In June 2019 the Environment Secretary appointed Henry to lead the National Food Strategy.

He previously worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company (1995-2002) where he advised businesses on strategy, performance improvement and organisational design.

Anna Taylor

Executive Director, Food Foundation

Anna joined the Food Foundation as its first Executive Director at the beginning of June 2015, having previously led the policy team on nutrition at DFID and worked for a number of international organisations including Save the Children and UNICEF.

She has been at the forefront of international leadership on nutrition for several years and in May 2017 Anna became a member of the London Food Board to advise the Mayor of London and the GLA on the food matters that affect Londoners.