An online public debate into food and fairness has launched today.
Run by the Food Ethics Council, the inquiry committee brings together leading figures from across the food sector including Fairtrade Foundation ceo Harriet Lamb, Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium, Paul Whitehouse, chair of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, and Jeanette Longfield, who runs the campaign group Sustain.
An early contribution came from Professor Adam Drewnowski at the University of Washington, stating: “Fat is a class issue. Healthy diets cost more, so policies to tackle obesity must reduce economic inequality.”
The committee urges people working in the food sector to share their opinions and experience on how fair they consider the global food system, the winners and losers, and who they see as responsible for making it fairer.
The questions the committee is tackling include: How important are low prices to your customers? Would the Competition Commission’s recommended supermarket ombudsman make the food sector fairer? Should your customers get directly involved in shaping your policies?
Helen Browning OBE, chair of the inquiry, said: “Food security and sustainability are front of mind in government and business, but the focus is mainly on the environment - how much food the land can produce and how to stop climate change. This inquiry reminds us that sustainability and food security are at root social issues, and fairness is central to achieving either.”
Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation and a member of the inquiry committee, said: “The continued growth of Fairtrade sales despite the recession is just one indicator of the strength of public concern about fairness in food. So this inquiry comes at a critical time and gives an opportunity for a wide range of people to discuss their concerns about whether farmers and workers here in Britain and across the world are fairly treated - and their ideas about how we can make our food fairer.”
The inquiry’s first public meeting is on September 16. The members will hear evidence on food poverty and malnutrition from three witnesses, watch video vox pops from soya workers and discuss the written evidence that has been submitted to the committee.
Two more hearings will be held in October and November, focusing on power in food supply chains and consumer participation in the food system. After extensive deliberation and analysis of the evidence gathered, the inquiry will produce a report that contains recommendations for food producers, retailers and government.
Anyone wishing to give the inquiry their views can visit the forum at www.foodethicscouncil.org/foodandfairness or email the Food Ethics Council researcher direct at santiago@foodethicscouncil.org
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