Wednesday, 4 June 2014 from 09:00 to 17:00
Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, High School Yards,
Infirmary Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ
ANNOUNCEMENT
The drive for cheap food commodities pushes the food production system into damaging the land on which future productivity depends.
This damage is not factored in to the cost of food but is passed on to the general public (pollution, health problems, flooding) or to our children (loss of species, loss of fish stocks, soil degradation, climate change). If we think the price of sustainable food is high today, it’s a bargain compared to the price of unsustainable food tomorrow.
This one day conference brings together food producers, researchers, policymakers, non government organisations and engaged citizens to share knowledge about the ‘externalities’ of the current food system and to share ideas
about how food policy in Scotland could make sustainable food production and consumption mainstream.
CONFERENCE DAY
A summary of the event can be found here and here is a link to a blog Mags Hall from the Fife Diet wrote after attending the event.
You can find the Programme here and access speaker’s presentations, given in the morning session, by clicking on the respective name below:
Bob Rees, SRUC
Mark Sutton, CEH
Vicki Swales, RSPB Scotland
Annie Anderson, University of Dundee
David Finlay, Cream O’Galloway
Jo Hunt, Knockfarrel Produce
After the morning session we enjoyed lunch made from organic and local produce served to us by Whitmuir Organics from their Food Truck.
In the afternoon delegates split up into four groups to discuss:
1. Collaboration – A new way of working together
2. What we know & what we need to know
3. Policy interventions for change
4. Mechanisms for market change
Summaries of the group discussions were shared with all delegates and the conference ended with a panel session. The panelists were:
Charlotte Maberly, Queen Margaret University
Michael Northcott, University of Edinburgh
Simon Crichton, Triodos Bank
Iain Gordon, James Hutton Institute