Consultation on a Food Strategy for Wales

http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/environmentandcountryside/100706foodstrategywales/?lang=en

This link will direct you to a Consultation on a Food Strategy for Wales, which contains the following documents:

Food for Wales, Food from Wales 2010:2020 - Consultation on a Food Strategy for Wales - Summary and Consultation Questions

Food for Wales, Food from Wales 2010:2020 - Consultation on a Food Strategy for Wales - Proposed Food Strategy for Wales

This is an important link, as The Big Food Debate will form part of the consultation to this paper.

Case Studies for the Civil Engagement Workshop

http://fairtradewales.com//resources/case_studies/1184


The above link will direct you to these three case studies, which have been developed for the Civil Engagement Workshop.

1. Wales: A Fair Trade Nation
   
2. Wales Africa Community Links- Small is beautiful and impactful!
   
3. An Overview of the Transition Towns Network
   

These case studies will available at the workshop on the day in English, Welsh and Spanish.

Concept of Resilience in Transition

Peter Lipman is from the Transition towns network and will be speaking at the debate. The following article will be an interesting introduction to a key concept in transition: ‘resilience'.

Resilience; “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganise while undergoing change, so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks”

http://transitionculture.org/2009/10/21/resilience-thinking-an-article-for-the-latest-resurgence/

Case Studies for Fair Trade and Public Procurement in Times of Austerity workshop

http://fairtradewales.com//resources/case_studies/1184

Here is a link that will direct you to the following three case studies, which have been developed for the Fair Trade and Public Procurement in Times of Austerity workshop.

1. Making a Statement: Sustainable Procurement in the Welsh Assembly Government
2. Fair Trade Procurement in Carmarthenshire County: Building New Practices and Overcoming Hurdles
3. Fair Trade Procurement in Cardiff School Catering: Encouraging Sustainability
   

These case studies illustrate examples of good practice and will be available in English, Welsh and Spanish. We hope they will be disseminated widely.

Reading up for the workshops

This blog is for the Food Debate and will be updated on a regular basis with relevent material that will be used throughout the day. At the event we’ll be exploring some specific topics in the workshops, and there will be relevent materials and case studies for each of these workshops updated on here once a week.

The first three workshops that will be held in the morning are:

1) Moving up the value chain- In this workshop it will be discussed how farmers ablity to capture more of the value chain is an important element of sustainability and resiliance to climate change. We currently have a couple of readings that are relevent to this workshop, and the links are as follows:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Developing+capabilities+and+capacities+in+African+LDCs%3a+a+strategy+of...-a0183867285

This article discusses the fact that sustained economic growth and poverty eradication in the least developed countries (LDCs), 34 of them in Africa, require improving their productive capacities through three closely interlinked processes. They include capital accumulation, technological innovation and structural reforms. It looks at what is creating failure and also how to help ensure success.

http://www.kit.nl/smartsite.shtml?id=SINGLEPUBLICATION&ItemID=2764

This explores how farmers have become shareholders in companies that market their product, and the opportunites and challenges that are created.

2) Stewardship of the environment: improving livelihoods amidst a changing climate-This workshop explores if it is possilbe for smallhold farmers can adapt to become stewards of the environment and help maintain and possibly increase their yields, despite widespread environmental degradation and the escalating risks posed by climate change impacts.

3) Food Security- This workshop will look at how food security is a key policy issue, and how the production and availability of safe and nutrious food is a daily challenge in developing countries ann can be directly linked to nutrition and public health status.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/food/food_matters_es.pdf

‘Food Matters: towards a strategy for the 21st century’- This is a government report from 2008 and reviews the main trends in food production and consumption in the UK. It explores the implications of these on the economy, society and the environment. It sets out four strategic objectives for Government on food, which were to secure goals such as fair prcies, choice etc.

And

The three workshops that will be held in the afternoon are the following:

4) Strengthening smallholders’ ability to deal with climate change- This workshop will discuss how support can be given to help build the capacity and resilience of smallholders to climate change. It will also look at what roles people need to take to help the most vunerable adapt to climate chage and whether in fact it is possible to provide sustainable support in an unsustainable world.

5) Fair Trade and Public Procurement in Times of Austerity-This workshop explores whether the value of global social justice, that Fair Trade represents remains significant for public authority. It also looks into whether there is still scope to expand public procurement of Fair Trade products.

6) Engaging the public/Group collaboration-This workshop will provide examples of how civil society can be engaged with on the key issues of fair trade, sustainable food and climate change. These issues are complicated, interrelated and involve a series of value driven negotiations.

There will be more documents for the workshops to follow, along with some more general articles.

Confirmed speakers

We are pleased to announce the following plenary speakers...

- Peter Lipman, Transition Towns: Local Food Perspective on Fair Trade (Food in a Low Carbon World )
- Jane Davidson, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing : A Welsh Assembly Government Perspective
- Gareth Edwards-Jones, University of Bangor: Scientists perspective on Fair Trade
(The Carbon Approach)
- Merling Preza, General Manager of Prodecoop coffee co-operative in Nicaragua: The Social Justice Agenda

You will be able to join in the debate as a question and answer session will follow their talks.

The Big Food Debate: Fair Trade, Sustainable food and Climate Change

The Debate: 10am to 5pm, 16th September 2010

Venue: The Priory Centre
Monk StreetAbergavennyNP7 5XZ
Wales, UK

Booking: To book your place or enquire about the workshop contact:
Kate MeakinCymru Masnach Deg/Fair Trade WalesTel: 02920 803293 / 07882 680113
Email: kate@fairtradewales.com

Booking Deadline: 31st July 2010

Workshop Costs: There is no fee for the workshop.

About the Organisers:
Abergavenny Food Festival
"For two days in September the little town is home to a food festival so mystically lovely, so unspoiled and evanescent that it's like a farmers' market in Brigadoon". The Guardian

BRASS, Cardiff University
The Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) is a leading research centre that focuses on the relationships between businesses and their key stakeholders.

Cymru Masnach Deg/Fair Trade Wales
Fair Trade Wales is a catalyst to grow the Fair Trade movement in Wales

Wales for Africa, Welsh Assembly Government
Supports Welsh efforts to deliver the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty by 2015.

Twin Trading
Twin is one of the pioneers of the Fair trade movement in the UK and is celebrating its 25th birthday this year.

University of Wales Swansea
Swansea University has an international reputation for academic and research success, including the generation of knowledge on Fair Trade. It was the first Fairtrade University in Wales.

The Debate
Fair Trade has grown hugely over recent years. It is now a mainstream proposition. It faces tough competition and an increasing challenges to demonstrate sustainable impacts.
· The challenges faced by livelihood struggles of smallholder farmers in the south, however, remain significant, e.g. declining productivity, a lack of transparency and control of their over product value chains, financial, organisational and infrastructure capacity constraints.
· The imposing threat of climatic change is widely recognised as an accelerator and multiplier of these challenges.;
· At the same time sales of organic and local products have increased dramatically in the UK.
· Does the consumer need to make a choice between fair trade and food miles; social justice and the environment?
· Are ethical agendas now in competition with one another?
· Are there common challenges that farmers and consumers in the South and North share?
· This debate will examine the current state of the ethical market-place, its achievements and limitations, and map out the next steps in achieving a fair and sustainable food system.

The Big Food Debate will:
· explore the challenges faced by Fair Trade and farmers in the south;
· facilitate an exchange of best practice from the north and south in response to ding to key common challenges;
· explore the concept of sustainable food in an era of climatic change
· discuss the implications of thissustainability and social justice issues for food procurement;
· share practical ways to involve civil society in these debates and discussions.

Why Attend the Big Food Debate?
· Challenging presentations exploring the future of Fair Trade;
· Practical examples of best practice; trade with smallholders; building capacity of smallholders, public procurement practice and how to engage civil society in these key debates;
· Opportunity for exchange of ideas with northern and southern practitioners

Who is the Big Food Debate for?
· Those interested in sustainable food
· Farmers (north and south)
· Public policy makers
· Fair Trade activists
· Donor/grant making bodies