The Future of Food is Now

A diverse range of speakers and stalls made our recent Future of Food meeting a fascinating evening.

Sandra Bell, from Friends of the Earth, described the massive problems caused in South America by the cultivation of soya beans for use in animal feed. Huge areas of forest have been destroyed and many small farmers have lost their land. In the UK Friends of the Earth is campaigning for a Sustainable Livestock Bill to be put before Parliament. Hopefully such a bill will be debated be Parliament in the autumn,

Chloe Smee, described plans to create Edible York, a plan to grow food all over York including in unlikely places such as wasteground. Dave Broughton described the Abundance project which aims to map fruit trees across York and to collect and distribute any excess fruit to anyone who would benefit from a free supply of fruit.

Finally, Michael Hjort, owner of the Meltons restaurants described the benefits and problems associated with buying locally grown and seasonal food,

Stalls included Garden Able ( a project to help disabled people grow food), Buglife (aims to promote conservation of insects), the Fulford Community Orchard, Slow Food, Abundance & Edible York.

the meeting was well attended and talks and discussions went on long after the meeting had officially ended. Hopefully new projects and cooperation between groups will result.