Before launching into a dissection of problems and solutions facing sustainable food production at the Future of Food conference in Gaston Hall this morning, His Royal Highness Prince Charles could not help but reference the event that had captivated the world only days earlier.

“It certainly makes a change from making embarrassing speeches about my eldest son during wedding receptions,” the Prince of Wales started his speech, which keynoted a day-long conference put on by The Washington Post Live that focused on the future of agriculture.

“It is surely time to grasp one of the biggest nettles of all and re-assess what has become a fundamental aspect of our entire economic model. Responding to the problems we have with a ‘business as usual’ approach … offers us only short-term relief,” the Prince of Wales said to an audience of about 700 students, professors, policymakers, industry leaders, guests and panelists. “We cannot possibly maintain the approach in the long-term if we continue to consume our planet as rapaciously as we are doing,” he said.

He emphasized that the challenging circumstances of the 21st century — waning fresh water resources, soil depletion, increased droughts and floods and a continued reliance on fossil fuels among others — make it impossible to continue to produce food responsibly under the current model.

“If we do not work within nature’s system, then nature will fail to be the durable, continuously sustaining force she has always been. … We have to maintain a supply of healthy food at affordable prices when there is mounting pressure on nearly every element affecting the process.”

The Prince of Wales, himself an organic farmer for the last 26 years, was quick to point out that sustainable food production is confined by social and economic pressures. According to him, this economic model must change.

“[The current model] has led to a situation where farmers are better off using intensive [harmful] methods and where consumers who would prefer to buy sustainably produced food are unable to do so because of the price,” he said.

He added that continuing on the current trajectory would create instability.

“If we do look at re-gearing the way subsidies work, we [must] include policies that focus funding on strengthening economic and environmental diversity. This diversity is at the root of building resilient economies that have the adaptive capacity to deal with the increasingly severe and frequent shocks that affect us all.”

According to the British royal, new technologies underway can make a substantial difference, but only if they are underpinned by the proper economic subsidies. The Prince of Wales added that individual practices, especially on the part of farmers, are essential to this movement.

Students in attendance said that they were impressed with the depth of the speech.

“At first I was surprised that he came and thought he was just coming as a notable figure. It’s great that he’s so involved, he’s an example for everyone,” Ana Sarbu (COL ’12) said. “We have to start somewhere. We have to find solutions and think about the future. We can have an impact with small choices, such as how much food we throw away and how much water we consume.”

Katie Martin (SFS ’11) said that she was impressed by the statistics the prince peppered throughout the speech, as well as by the references to what international organizations are and can be doing to help.

“As a [Science, Technology and International Affairs] major, I’m really interested in public health and the connection it has with sustainability,” she said. “I hadn’t known how active he was before this speech, for instance that he was an organic farmer.”

Martin added that she was happy that the United Kingdom notable had brought the speech full circle and back to the United States, which the Prince of Wales said must be at the forefront of creating a new movement.

“At the end of [this conference] we might be able to herald a new ‘Washington Consensus’,” he said.

The conference was composed of three panels on the future of agriculture, health and nutrition, and the future of international food, featuring speakers such as the CEO of Panera Bread Ronald Shaich, James Beard award winner Dan Barber and Vice President of General Mills Susan Crockett, respectively. Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture, also spoke at the event.

Attendees were served a lunch cooked by White House Assistant Chef Sam Kass, while Sen. Jon Tester (D-Minn.) concluded the conference.

For the prince, however, his final suggestion to change the agricultural mindset was a simple one.

“We need to include in the bottom line the true costs of food production — the true financial costs and the true costs to the Earth.”