Timothy McGregor

I am student at Nottingham Trent University and food security is the main reason I have chosen this FdSc in Horticulture course. I believe it is the right focus for me to achieve my ambition to be an innovator in the commercial vegetable and seed industry.

World trends are showing we will need 70% more food within the next 35 years. And the recent World Economic Forum focused on this issue and is striving to eliminate world hunger by 2030. The challenge of preventing hunger and improving nutritional value of food is what drives me to build my professional qualification in horticultural techniques and practices.

My compelling drive and passion in horticulture comes from a very early age. I have witnessed the malnutrition of young children while we lived as a family in Africa. Covering Nigeria, Egypt and Swaziland. The experience remains vivid with me to this day, from the tragedy of poor nutrition and the more inspirational family unit. That African family unit drives, to this day, the majority of the food provision with the women being the farmers.

From another angle, I have strong experience in landscaping. This gave me great insight into the management of different sites and situations. Particularly, how to make the most of a situation and design a good fit to the environment and the plants characteristics.

I have just finished a work experience placement at S&A produce (UK) Ltd. Where I was a part of the technical team. Working on varying aspects of the soft fruit market. I gained valuable insights within this sector of the industry from growing and importing fruit to packaging and delivery to the customer.

At the end of my Foundation course in 2016 I hope to continue to gain my full BSc degree in horticulture up to 2017.