|
With
a month to go before the World Food Summit in Rome and gathering interest in the
World Trade Organisation's meeting in December in Singapore, the UK conference
for the World Food Summit will be held at the London Sector Resource Centre on
Friday 11 October 1996.
The conference will attract 200 participants from very
diverse backgrounds in the UK with a common interest in global food policy and a
desire to respond to the challenge of feeding a g
rowing world population in the
next millennium. Many different sectors of society will be represented:
consumers; farmers; government; the food industry; environmentalists;
development groups; the media; academics and diplomats. Divided into five main
courses, the Menu for the Millennium conference will sample different 'policy
dishes' that are being served up to strengthen the world's food security and
meet the needs of 800 million chronically undernourished people in the world.
Each of these courses will use a different method to highlight the challenges,
stimulate debate and identify strategies and policies for the future.
The event will be the UK focus for the World Food Summit and
the debates will be enriched by participants from Asia, Latin America, Africa,
Europe and North America. Key speakers include: Charles Abugre, Third World
Network; Alex McCalla, Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the
World Bank; Sasakawa Global 2000 agricultural programme; Prof. Lawrence Smith,
Glasgow University, Cargill Europe; Jeanette Longfield, National Food Alliance;
Andrew Bennett, Overseers Development Administration; Prof. Tim Lang, Food
Policy Institute; Christopher Haskins, Northern Foods; Dr Simon Maxwell,
University of Sussex; Ian Symons, ODA; Ian Gardiner, National Farmers Union;
Maria Elena Hurtado, Consumers International.
The programme is being organised by the UK Food Group, an
alliance of 20 organisations including farmers' groups, consumers,
environmental organisations and development charities, and is part of an ongoing
food security programme of activities aimed at encouraging debate and gathering
research material to inform decision makers. During the summer members organised
conferences examining the effect that GATT/World Trade Organisation policies are
having on food security and on the safe-guarding of bio-diversity to enhance
food security. Members are also involved in events and regular meetings with
European and Southern partners.
For
more information: Martin Roberts, Co-ordinator, UK Food Group, Tel. +44 (0)171
523 2328, Fax +44 (0)171 620 0719, EMail ukfg@dial.pipex.com
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 33 as part of the
Focus on Food supplement, September 1996,
page 24]