On Saturday (29th March), award-winning actress and Compassion Visionary, Miriam Margolyes OBE, joined our Global CEO Philip Lymbery to deliver the Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture at the Oxford Literary Festival.

Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture

The annual Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture, named in honour of our founder, was held in the prestigious Sheldonian Theatre.

Miriam, a vocal and formidable animal welfare champion, spoke to a packed audience at the sold-out event. She covered many topics including how we can all be more compassionate when making food choices and her journey to discover more about farmed animal welfare.

During the lecture, Miriam stressed why factory farming is so wrong: “Agriculture is the cause of most of the cruelty to animals in the world.”

“To be cruel to another sentient being is wrong, it just is. Are we prepared to give up our decency to chomp on some chicken that [has been factory farmed]?”

She went on to highlight how we can all make a stand against the cruel treatment of farmed animals, saying: “We can be very purposeful about the food we eat, about the fish we eat... I want each and every one of you to think about the choices you make... We have a choice. We have a voice, and we should use it.”

Insightful conversation

Earlier in the day, we brought together several of our High Profile Supporters to explore ‘Why We Need More Compassion in our Food and Farming’.

Musician (ex – Groove Armada), DJ, regenerative farmer, and co-founder of Wildfarmed, Andy Cato, Dragon’s Den businesswoman and environmental campaigner Deborah Meaden, and BBC TV presenter and farm owner Kate Humble were joined by our Global CEO Philip Lymbery.

During the discussion, Andy Cato called for the Government to do more to support farmers who are producing food in harmony with nature. He stressed that farmers to be rewarded for what they're doing while producing food - not just the end product - to make food affordable for everyone.

Deborah Meaden emphasised how businesses must move towards sustainable food production: “A business has to make money, but consumers are becoming much more aware [about sustainability & animal welfare]... any business that doesn't know that yet is going to be in trouble.”

A shopping list for life

At our third event of the day, Compassion Trustee, Joy Carter, chaired a discussion exploring how we can choose foods that are good for us, animals, and the planet. She was joined by panellists Dr Stuart Gillespie, Dr Shireen Kassam and theologian Dr David Clough.

If you weren’t able to attend, all the lectures are available to watch on our YouTube channel.