Can we fix a broken food system?
Food is on the agenda this year. The recent horse meat scandal has left many people questioning where their food comes from, and in the lead up to the G8 summit a coalition of aid agencies has launched The Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign.
With extreme weather leading to failing harvests and rising food prices, food security is one of the biggest problems facing governments today. The IF campaign has highlighted four areas that they believe can help tackle hunger: aid, tax, land and transparency.
One billion people go to bed hungry every night and two million children die from malnutrition every year. We will be joined by those involved in the campaign and others to break down the problems with our food system and ask what can be done to fix it.
Chaired by Paul Vallely, a leading writer on development, he is associate editor of The Independent where he writes about ethical, cultural and political issues. He has previously reported from over 30 countries and was the Africa correspondent for The Times. He has written a number of books including Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World Debt, Promised Lands and he ghost-wrote Bob Geldof’s autobiography, Is That It?.
The panel:
Paul McMahon has worked as an advisor on sustainable food systems to environmental charities and UN agencies. He co-founded and now helps run SLM Partners, a business that invests in sustainable agriculture. He is the author of Feeding Frenzy: The New Politics of Food.
Mike Lewis leads ActionAid UK’s policy work on tax in the developing world. He was previously a UN sanctions investigator and member of the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan. He has a background in NGO research on tax, financial transparency, human rights and the role of business in conflict.
David Bull joined UNICEF UK (United Nations Children’s Fund) as Executive Director in 1999 and since the the charities income has trebled. He has travelled to scores of countries to advocate for children caught in conflict or in silent emergencies.
Mary Creagh is Labour MP for Wakefield and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
