God and Industrialised Animal Agriculture

5:15pm, 30^th October 2019 Martin Hall, New College, Edinburgh, EH1 2LX

The meat and dairy industries are increasingly under public scrutiny. Conversations between environmentalists, animal welfare campaigners, farmers, and the general public are often fraught, with powerful voices on both sides. However, theological and religious perspectives are often missing from these discussions. What are the implications of theology and ethics for industrialised animal agriculture? Are there resources in the Bible or in religious tradition for confronting these issues? Join us for a panel discussion in which we address these and other concerns.

The panel discussion will take place at 5:15-6:30pm on 30^th October in the Martin Hall, New College. It will be followed by a drinks reception, which all are welcome to attend. Free tickets are available from Eventbrite here.

The panellists

Prof David Clough is Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chester. He has recently completed a two-volume monograph On Animals(Vol.1 Systematic Theology 2012; vol.2 Theological Ethics 2019). He is the Principal Investigator on an AHRC-funded project on the Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare, and is the founder of the CreatureKind project and DefaultVeg project.

Dr David Grumett is Senior Lecture in Theology and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. Amongst other things, his research examines theology and food, and he is the co-author of Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet (2010). He is an advisor to the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dr Suzanna Millar is a Teaching Fellow in Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focusses on animals in the Hebrew scriptures, and she is the co-chair of the Animals and the Bible research unit for the European Association of Biblical Studies.