[AODA members] FW: News: Sustainable behaviour; Meat; Wales first on food ethics; 2 new posts...
Stacia Nordin, RD
nordin at eomw.net
Tue Nov 6 22:57:26 PST 2007
AODA members - this comes to me through my Hunger and Environmental
Nutrition DPG - which focuses on the sustainability and equity of our
food supply. There is a short article in the newsletter from the UK who
seem advanced in thinking. Enjoy some positive news and join in on
supporting it where ever you are!
Stacia, Malawi, Africa, AODA President
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [hen-l] FW: News: Sustainable behaviour; Meat; Wales first on
food ethics; 2 new posts...
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 17:39:01 -0600
From: Susan Roberts <susan at susan-roberts.net>
Reply-To: ADA Dietetic Practice Group <hen-l at list.cornell.edu>
To: HEN-L List Serv <HEN-L at cornell.edu>
FYI -- I find the piece from Wales really interesting. I wish we were so
progressive.
Sue
*Susan L Roberts, JD, MS, RD*
Director, Food & Society Policy Fellows Program
Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute
8830 NW 35th Street
Ankeny, Iowa 50023
515.965.3859
515.480.5898 (c)
www.foodandsocietyfellows.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Tom MacMillan [mailto:tom at foodethicscouncil.org]
*Sent:* Friday, November 02, 2007 9:35 AM
*To:* susan at susan-roberts.net
*Subject:* News: Sustainable behaviour; Meat; Wales first on food
ethics; 2 new posts...
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food ethics council logo <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org>
*Newsletter*
*November 2007*
*Introduction*
We have sent you this newsletter so we can keep you in touch with the
work of the Food Ethics Council without swamping you with email. If you
would prefer not to receive future editions, please email
<mailto:tom at foodethicscouncil.org?subject=REMOVE%20FROM%20MAILING%20LIST>
Tom MacMillan with the subject "REMOVE FROM MAILING LIST".
In this edition:
* Green concerns? But what will you do? <#1>
* More meat on the menu <#2>
* Welsh Assembly first on food ethics <#3>
* Two new posts! Development and Communications Managers <#4>
Please forward this newsletter to any friends or colleagues who might be
interested.
Kind regards
Tom MacMillan
Executive Director, Food Ethics Council
*Green concerns? But what will you do?*
Public concern about the environmental and social footprint of our food
is rising. Consumers are acting on this concern too, with the market for
'ethical' food and drink in the UK worth around £4 billion. But there is
a gap between what we say and what we do. After all, even £4 billion is
only a small slice of the market.
The September meeting of the Food Ethics Council's Business Forum,
chaired by Helen Browning, explored the latest evidence on people's
attitudes and behaviour towards sustainable food consumption.
Graham Brown and Hazel Seaman from research and communications company
Opinion Leader. They reported on two projects that Opinion Leader have
undertaken for the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra): the /Citizens' summit on climate change/ and research
on the /Public understanding of sustainable consumption of food/.
Opinion Leader also did the research behind /I will if you will/, a
groundbreaking 2006 report on sustainable behaviour and public attitudes
produced by the UK Sustainable Consumption Roundtable.
We have published a short report
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/files/businessforum130907.pdf> of the
meeting. The key points we took from the discussion were that:
* Most people in the UK think human activity causes climate change
and the number saying the environment is a major concern is rising
steeply.
* Sustainability is not at the front of most people's minds when
they are shopping for food but it does mean something to 'greener'
shoppers and those in rural areas.
* Consumers are willing to reduce their environmental footprint by
cutting food waste and eating local food in season.
* They are less willing to make significant changes to the overall
balance of their diet on sustainability grounds, though may
consider doing so for health reasons.
* People see addressing climate change as a shared responsibility
for themselves, government and business, but they want evidence
that everyone else will keep their side of the bargain.
* People emphasise the responsibilities of business to make our food
system more sustainable, demanding that businesses clean up their
supply chains, create incentives for consumers to choose
sustainable foods and take unsustainable products off the shelves.
People believe government should force businesses to change if
businesses do not do so voluntarily.
Find our more about our Business Forum...
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourowork/businessforum>.
*More meat on the menu*
In our October newsletter <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/node/310> we
discussed what rising world meat consumption and production means for
people's health and livelihoods, for animal welfare and for the
environment. The next edition of Food Ethics
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourwork/bulletin> magazine will focus
on the problems around livestock farming and on how to address them.
We can now announce contributors to the magazine. As always, we are
lucky to have a great line-up: renowned US animal behaviour expert
*Temple Grandin*; *Jason Matheny* from *New Harvest*, which researches
in vitro meat production; *Russell Marsh* from *Green Alliance* on
sustainable consumption; *Roland Bonney* and *Ruth Layton* from Oxford's
*Farm Animal Initiative*; *Tony McMichael*, author of /The Lancet
/article on meat that caused a stir in September; *McDonald's*; *Tara
Garnett* from the *Food Climate Research Network* (FCRN); the UK *Meat
and Livestock Commission*'s *Richard Lowe*; *Ken Laughlin*, of poultry
breeders *Aviagen*; *Joyce D'Silva* from *Compassion in World Farming*;
*Send a Cow*'s *Richie Alford*; the author *Colin Tudge*; *John
Wibberley* from the *Royal Agricultural College*; the outdoor philospher
*Kate Rawles*; *Steven Tait* from *Freedom Foods*; *Nicholas Saphir* of
*OMSCo*, the organic milk suppliers cooperative; *Henry Buller*, from
*Exeter University*; *Steve Suppan* from the *Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy*; *Eastbrook Farm*'s *Tim Finney*; *Patrick van
Zwanenberg* and *Erik Millstone *from *SPRU* at the University of
Sussex; *John Turner*, a farmer; and *Raj Patel*, who recently published
/Stuffed and starved: markets, choice and the battle for the world's
food system./
The next meeting of our Business Forum will also be about meat. FCRN's
Tara Garnett, also contributing the magazine, will draw on her latest
work for Defra to lead a discussion on /Meat consumption: trends and
environmental implications/. The meeting will consider:
* What is the UK's contribution to global trends?
* How do the environmental impacts of meat production vary by sector
and by production system, and how do they compare with dairy?
* How can we improve the sector's environmental footprint at the
same time as benefitting public health, producer livelihoods and
animal welfare?
* Do we need to eat less, better meat?
* What place does meat have in a sustainable food system?
Find out more about Food Ethics magazine...
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourwork/bulletin>
*Welsh Assembly first on food ethics*
The Welsh Quality of Food Strategy
<http://new.wales.gov.uk/dphhp/publication/improvement/food/quality/quality-of-food-e.doc?lang=en>,
out for consultation until 31st December, has ethics at its heart.
This puts Wales at the forefront of government efforts in the UK to
grapple the overlapping issues around food - not just health, the
economy and environmental issues, but also wellbeing, social justice,
freedom of choice, animal welfare and more besides.
Why? Because setting out clear ethical principles can provide an
overarching framework for better decision-making in food policy. Amid
complex issues and competing interests, ethical principles help us keep
sight of the big picture: What is the right thing to do, all considered?
Why? Who is it good for, is it fair and who decides?
Taking an ethical approach encourages rigour when using concepts like
sustainable development. It identifies clear shared reference points for
negotiating disagreements and it provides a strong rationale for open
and accountable devision-making.
The three principles at the centre of the new Welsh strategy are similar
to those in the Ethical Matrix
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourwork/tools/ethicalmatrix/introduction>,
a tool developed by FEC founding member Ben Mepham and used in many of
our reports:
*1. Well Being *
* Food should be safe and nutritious, contributing to public health
and reducing the burden of diet-related ill-health;
* Food production and consumption should contribute to social and
community cohesion and to the health and well being of the
environment and farm animals.
*2. Justice *
* Food should be accessible and affordable to all;
* Food should be traded fairly, respecting the needs and rights of
all people involved in the process of getting food from farm to fork.
*3. Accountability*
* The whole food chain should be transparent to public scrutiny and
answerable to all people who depend on it;
* Food should be accurately and honestly labelled, in line with
national and international food safety regulations, enabling
citizens to make choices.
How these principles relate to food quality should be explained more
clearly in the strategy, but we see this as a very welcome and important
step. We hope others will follow and improve upon the approach that
Wales is taking.
Do you think this is a good way framing the strategy? You can read the
full strategy and let the Welsh Assembly Government know what you think
by visiting their consultation page
<http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/health/ocmo/consultations/quality-food/?lang=en>.
If you know other examples from around the world where policies on food
and farming are based on explicit ethical principles please let us know
<tom at foodethicscouncil.org?subject=ETHICAL%20PRINCIPLES>.
Find out about the Ethical Matrix...
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourwork/tools/ethicalmatrix/introduction>
*Two new posts! Development and Communications*
The Food Ethics Council is the independent advisory body on ethics in
food and farming. We play a leading role in opening up debate on the big
issues, such as climate change, obesity and GM crops. We work on
problems where the right answer is not obvious.
We challenge government, business and society to face up to difficult
decisions and we provide the help people need to make those choices
wisely. We do this through policy analysis, dialogue events, developing
tools and provoking public debate.
Two exciting new posts will drive forward our growing work (click on job
titles to find out more).
*Development Manager* <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/node/315>
£25,000 - £31,000 pro rata, Brighton
To lead our fundraising, shape our strategy and develop new projects.
*Communications Manager* <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/node/314>* *
£22,000 - £27,000 pro rata, Brighton
To lead our media relations, co-ordinate external affairs and produce
our magazine.
Find out about jobs and internships at the Food Ethics Council...
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/jobs>
This newsletter gives an overview of our recent activities. If you are
particularly interested in our project on Road Pricing and Sustainable
Food you can sign up here <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/node/193> to
receive more detailed updates on that work.
*This month's poll...*
The best way to less waste?
Say 'bog off' to BOGOFs
'Best before' past its 'sell by'
Leftovers need a makeover
Ugly fruit is beautiful
WRAP launches campaign to cut UK's £8bn a year food waste...
<http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/>
*In the autumn edition of Food Ethics magazine...*
*Comment and analysis on the future of farm policy from: EU Agriculture
Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel | Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | David Baldock from the
Institute for European Environmental Policy | farmsubsidy.org's Jack
Thurston | Baroness Barbara Young, chief executive of the Environment
Agency | UK government farming advisor Sir Don Curry | UK Sustainable
Development Commission chair Jonathon Porritt | CAP expert Professor Wyn
Grant | Dr Helen Philips, CEO of Natural England | European Parliament
advisor Hannes Lorenzen | the Rt Hon Michael Jack, chairman of the UK's
EFRA select committee | and many more...*
Click here <http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ourwork/bulletin> to
subscribe or read free content
*"cutting-edge analysis that prompts real debate."*
Zac Goldsmith, director of The Ecologist
*"...provides a welcome forum for a debate we urgently need to have."*
Professor Peter Singer, author of The Way We Eat
Think critically, keep informed, subscribe to Food Ethics today!
*Subscribers receive:*
*Four issues of Food Ethics*
Covering one major theme each quarter, the magazine is designed to be
essential reading for anyone with an active interest in food and
farming. Each issue includes analysis, debate, reviews and upcoming
events. Subscribers receive the magazine in print and can download it
online.
*Free publications*
The Food Ethics Council provides research and analysis to promote better
food and farming. As a subscriber you will receive free copies of any
printed reports that we produce.
*Discounted events*
Whether you work in the sector or you just love good food, our events
are a chance to make new contacts, debate the issues and hear fresh
ideas. Past public meetings have covered topics ranging from
gene-tailored diets to the hidden stories behind our food. Subscribers
receive a minimum 20 percent off tickets to our events.
Rates start at £15.
*To subscribe visit:* www.foodethicscouncil.org
<http://www.foodethicscouncil.org>
If you wish to be removed from the mailing list please email Tom
MacMillan
<tom at foodethicscouncil.org?subject=REMOVE%20FROM%20MAILING%20LIST> with
the subject "REMOVE FROM MAILING LIST".
Food Ethics Council, 39-41 Surrey Street, Brighton BN1 3PB, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 1273 766 654 | F: +44 (0) 1273 766 653
info at foodethicscouncil.org
--
Stacia Nordin, RD
Registered Dietitian
School Health & Nutrition Advisor
Malawi Ministry of Education
GTZ (German Technical Cooperation)
Box 31131, Lilongwe, Malawi
www.gtz.de
tel/fax: +265 1-755-000
Kristof, Khalidwe & Stacia Nordin
Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security Consultants
Crossroads Post Dot Net x-124, Lilongwe, Malawi
nordin at eomw.net
www.NeverEndingFood.org
t: +265 1-707-213
c: +265 9-333-073 (Stacia)
c: +265 9-926-153 (Kristof)
c: +265 9-281-700 (Khalidwe)
Skype: stacia.kristof
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