London's Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert, and London-based NGO Find your Feet are sponsoring a debate on Localisation vs. Globalisation to be held on Wednesday March 24th.
Entitled 'FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Is there room for the 'local' in a globalising world?' the debate will explore what action needs to be taken to create a more sustainable and healthy system for the production, marketing and consumption of food. The debate will be co-hosted by Dr Dan Taylor, the Director of Find Your Feet, and Jenny Jones, Green Deputy Mayor and Chair of London Food.
Jean Lambert said: "I am pleased to be working with Find your Feet to offer this opportunity to debate global food production and the serious environmental and social issues relating to it. It needs to be had."
International trade in food has almost trebled over the last 30 years. As food production becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of multinational companies, at the expense of small-scale farmers - in the UK, as well as in developing countries - should agricultural policy be moving towards a more localised food system?
Caroline Lucas, Green Party Euro-MP for the South East and a respected expert on globalisation, will be arguing that the re-localisation food production is essential for global sustainability.
Simon Maxwell, Director of the Overseas Development Institute, will counter that equal access to the global market place is essential for the development of poorer rural economies.
The debate will be chaired BBC Developing World Correspondent, David Loyn.
Dr Lucas said: "This is a much-needed debate about how to prioritise local food production and consumption. It is vital that we relocalise food production for the sake of improving food safety, animal welfare, limiting future diseases and the threat to our tourist industry, and perhaps most crucial of all, in order to properly address the threat of global climate change."
Dan Taylor said: "My experiences in an international development charity working with the poverty stricken in South Asia and southern Africa has shown me that we live in a world of glaring injustice and inequality. It is a world in which the poor are denied both choice and opportunity. As small-scale farming and local food production come increasingly under threat, the future for many farming communities in the developing world looks bleak."
Jenny Jones, who chairs London Food, said: "London's food industry is immense, serving over 7 million people a day. As consumers, we have the power to influence the trade and production of food because the choices we make have huge environmental, social and economic implications. We now need a sustainable food policy for London that is good for the environment, good for business and ensures access to fresh healthy food for all Londoners."
ENDS
Note to Editors
1) The schedule for the debate is as follow:
3.30 Welcome (Jenny Jones)
3.35
Introduction by chair, David Loyn
3.45 - 4.05 Speaker 1 (Caroline Lucas)
4.05
- 4.25 Speaker 2 (Simon Maxwell)
4.25 - 4.55 Debate
4.55 Thanks (Dan Taylor)
5.00
Drinks
2) The debate is free, but pre-booking is essential. Please RSVP on Telephone: 020 7326 4464 or Email: fyf@fyf.org.uk
3) Find Your Feet is an international development charity creating lasting solutions to poverty in South Asia and southern Africa (www.fyf.org.uk)
For further information or to arrange interviews contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk.