Solutions for a Food System in Crisis
Channel: British Library
Date: 2022-06-10

A panel of leading food thinkers, activists and practitioners discuss how we can fix a broken food system. From the USA we welcome food justice activist Frances Moore Lappé whose 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet was a clarion call for rethinking contemporary food production. She joins Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon restaurant chain and lead for the 2021 Food Strategy Plan, and agri-food specialist and geographer Neil Ward and chef and sustainability campaigner Tom Hunt. Chaired by food writer and campaigner Bee Wilson.

Together this expert panel takes on the challenges of modern food production and proposes solutions which could transform public health and save the planet.

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Frances Moore Lappé is the author or co-author of 20 books, many focusing on themes of ‘living democracy’, suggesting a way of living aligned with our needs for connection, meaning and power. Her first book, Diet for a Small Planet published in 1971, has now sold over three-million copies. Her latest work is It’s Not Too Late! and in 2017 she co-authored Daring Democracy focusing on the U.S. democracy crisis. Frances is co-founder of Oakland-based Food First and the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute. The recipient of 20 honorary degrees, Frances received the Right Livelihood Award, often called the ‘Alternative Nobel’.

Henry Dimbleby was given the role of lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in March 2018. In June 2019 the Environment Secretary appointed him to lead the National Food Strategy, which he published in July 2021. Henry co-founded the Leon restaurant chain in 2004. He was a co-founder of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (2009), the charity Chefs in Schools (2018) and co-authored The School Food Plan (2013), which set out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author of the new book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. Tom prioritises people and the environment within his work and believes in a world with a fair global food system where our actions benefit other people and nature. He works to protect biodiversity and promote equality by raising awareness about the issues affecting our food system whilst empowering people and businesses to act responsibly through his workshops, consultancy, food writing, presenting and events.

Neil Ward is a professor of human geographer specialising in agri-food and rural development at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He was UEA’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (2014-21) and Director of Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy (2004-08). He worked with the UK Research Councils to plan and scope the £27m Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU) which ran from 2003-13. He has served as a Cabinet Office advisor on agricultural policy and has appeared before numerous parliamentary select committees. He is author of Net Zero, Food and Farming: Climate Change and the UK Agri-Food System (Routledge, published summer 2022).

Bee Wilson is a writer, mostly about food. She writes for a wide range of publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian. She is the author of six books on food-related subjects including The Way We Eat Now and Consider the Fork. Her latest project is a cookbook, due to be published next year.

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Food Season supported by Kitchen Aid 
https://www.kitchenaid.co.uk/