Professor Tim Lang has called on both the London-based wholesale and retail market sectors to cut their environmental impact and make the changes needed to serve the next generation of customers and consumers better.
The City University food policy academic told guests at the Market Committee of the City of London Corporation’s annual dinner last week that the future sustainability of the capital and its markets was “no laughing matter”.
“This is a new generation of markets and you need to be sustainable, your old ways just can’t continue,” he said. “Pressures are intensifying. Food is 30 per cent of our carbon footprint and [food] markets are going to be a hot topic. You will be responsible for defining the city’s footprint.”
Lang questioned the efficiency of the City of London in the coming years as its population gets larger.
“The Corporation needs to rethink how it’s going to feed the city in 20 to 30 years’ time,” he said. “There are definitely some tough times ahead of us. Energy, water, carbon footprint - everything is happening at once and it’s going to change our food system,” he said.
“All the choices were made 100 years ago. We have to do some big thinking about where we are going to be.”
He argued a future model should be devised in which London markets could lead the way.
Lang is a trustee of London’s Borough Market, which is hugely popular with consumers. He is optimistic that other wholesale and retail markets could also draw in tourists and everyday consumers.
“We are trying to experiment with wholesale and make markets pleasurable tourist attractions. Can markets be a wholesale and retail offer? The future of markets is a great one. We need a new generation of markets,” he said.
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