Paul Sander-Jackson, Chair of Food Links UK said “the local food agenda is evolving fast, from analysis to action. Some policy and strategies recognise the link between the crisis in farming and the rural economy, the nation's poor diet and long-term health problems, and the need to reconnect the food chain, producers and consumers. The analysis, rhetoric and po icy may be right but how easy is it to put the ideas into action? This conference will bring together policy makers and practitioners to show what needs to happen to achieve a more sustainable food and farming system both now and in the future.”
Speakers at the conference include Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, Green MEP for the South East of England, Jeremy Pope OBE, member of the Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group, and Baroness Sue Miller, spokesperson on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. The conference will be chaired by Prof.Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, and it is being sponsored by the Cooperative Group, the countryside Agency, and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The conference will also witness the launch of a joint Food Links UK and Sustain report, titled 'Feeding the Future: Policy Options for Local Food', which sets out the many ideas generated cover recent years to support the development of sustainable, local food economies, applicable at local, national, European and global levels.
James Petts, Sustain 's Local Food Policy Officer and author of the report, said 'this new report will give food for thought as to the poicy decisions required to help develop a sustainable food economy and culture. The conference is an ideal opportunity to launch the report and bring it to the attention of those who can bring about change.'
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Good Food on the Public Plate: Good Food on the Public Plate (GFPP) provided a wide range of assistance to a diverse cross-section of London's public sector organisations including local authorities, hospitals, universities and care homes, to enable them to use more sustainable food in their catering.