How to solve the sustainable food puzzle
The ability to provide and use food sustainably is essential to our future prosperity. There is a complex landscape to navigate – to identify the many stakeholders, and engage them in the activities that will:
- Limit the impact on climate change of food production and consumption
- Support healthy ecosystems
- Maximise production for a growing population
- Eradicate food waste
This can be best seen as a jigsaw puzzle of distinct and interlocking policies, projects, and stakeholders, all with individual goals, needs, resources, risks and opportunities.
This event will bring together stakeholders including: experts, businesses, academics, NGOs – to explore the puzzle, find ways to solve the different pieces of the puzzle (or promote best practice that is already working), and agree a way forward.
The different topics for each part of the puzzle will be set by the stakeholders themselves, and will include:
- Reducing carbon in the food value chain
- Finding a metric for soil health
- Engaging agricultural suppliers
- Consumer food waste
- Tackling waste from farm gate to plate/shelf
- Sustainable agriculture for profitable production
- Reducing food miles and/or their impact
- Sustainable food for sustainable society
Every part of this puzzle will have the overlying challenges and opportunities of Brexit to consider.
- Delegates will sign up to tackle the pieces of the puzzle that are important to them. BITC will appoint a leader for each piece of the puzzle who will help shape each session.
- The format suitable for each will vary from roundtable discussions, sharing best practice, lectures from experts, debate, inspirational key note speaker.
- A plenary session will bring together the pieces of the puzzle with an opportunity for brief feedback.
- Following the event a plan will be created showing the progress expected over time.