August 14, 2013
How to feed the nation
The Prime Minister has described the proliferation of food banks across the UK as his vision of Big Society in action. While food banks undoubtedly reflect a human response at a local level to people in need, whether a country as wealthy as the UK should be tackling hunger and poverty in this way is highly questionable. Nick Saul, who has long experience of food banks in Canada, is adamant that they are not the solution. Nourish Scotland invite you to consider a much more radical proposal for feeding the nation.
14/08/13
Feeding the Five Million
“Feeding the Five Million: what would it take for everyone in Scotland to eat well and sustainably?”
Nourish Scotland 2013 Conference, 3rd and 4th September, Queen Margaret University,Edinburgh.
It’s easy to make sweeping statements about what needs to happen globally, but harder to work out the details. So, this conference is to talk and think about Scotland – a small, wealthy, well-governed country blessed with some productive soils and plenty of water, with skilled farmers and fishers, world-leading science and a strong social fabric.
And food banks. And a population which dies on average four years younger than the European average, with huge inequalities across Scotland.
This conference takes the form of a two-day enquiry. Teams from different backgrounds will work together to explore these issues and produce a report which will subsequently be edited, published and disseminated widely. Teams will have access to a variety of witnesses including people from all parts of the food system and academics, activists and specialists from a variety of fields.
Full Conference Participants will need to be able to attend the full two days, which includes an evening session with a keynote speaker and a conference dinner.
For those unable to attend for the full two days, special tickets are available for the evening discussion and dinner on the evening of Tuesday 3rd September. This discussion will be chaired by Lesley Riddoch and feature a special guest from the Just Food project in New York and Robin McAlpine of the Jimmy Reid Foundation, initiator of the Scottish Common Weal project.
The conference fees will be flexible so that participants from different sectors can be included.
For more information or to register interest please email conference2013@nourishscotland.org.uk
Bookings can be made at the eventbrite website below:
http://feedingthefivemillion.eventbrite.co.uk