Food sector leaders launch public debate

“Fat is a class issue. Healthier diets cost more, so policies to tackle obesity must reduce economic inequality”. This view, from Prof. Adam Drewnowski at the University of Washington, is just one of the early contributions to an important inquiry that today launched an online public debate into food and fairness.

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.

The committee urges people to share their opinions and experience. How fair is the global food system? Who are the winners and losers? Who is responsible for making it fairer?

The questions the committee is tackling include:

• What the underlying reasons some people eat healthily while others do not?
• Do people working in food and farming get a fair deal?
• Do we have enough say in what we can eat and what goes on the shelves?

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 Wednesday 16th September. 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 here or email the Food Ethics Council researcher direct at santiago@foodethicscouncil.org

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Notes to editors

The Food Ethics Council is a charity that provides independent advice on ethical issues in food and farming (www.foodethicscouncil.org). Our aim is to create a food system that is fairer and healthier for people and the environment.

The Food and Fairness Inquiry committee invites all interested parties to submit any written evidence that they consider relevant to the Inquiry. To be considered at the first evidence hearing, evidence must be submitted by the end of August 2009. There is no limit to the length of submissions: the committee welcomes anything from informal notes that draw attention to existing documents, through to formal submissions that directly address questions raised by the committee. Evidence should be submitted to Santiago Ripoll (santiago@foodethicscouncil.org), Food Ethics Council, 39-41 Surrey Street, Brighton BN1 3PB, UK.

The Food and Fairness Inquiry was commissioned by the Food Ethics Council to help inform our own and other organisations’ work towards a fair food system. We are grateful for the support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, which has made this Inquiry possible.

There are sixteen committee members:

Helen Browning OBE, Director of Food and Farming: Soil Association; Chair of the Food Ethics Council
Dr Charlie Clutterbuck, Director: Environmental Practice at Work; Trustee of the Food Ethics Council
Prof Elizabeth Dowler, Professor of Food and Social Policy in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick; Trustee of the Food Ethics Council
Andrew Jarvis, Principal: GHK and Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House
Dr Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition and Health Research: MRC Human Nutrition Research
Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive Officer: Fairtrade Foundation
Melanie Leech, Chief Executive, Food and Drink Federation
Jeanette Longfield MBE, Coordinator: Sustain - the alliance for better food and farming; Member of the Food Ethics Council
Richard Macdonald, Director General, National Farmers’ Union
Prof Ben Mepham, Special Professor in Applied Bioethics: University of Nottingham; Visiting Professor in Bioethics, University of Lincoln; Member of the Food Ethics Council
Prof Kevin Morgan, Director: Regeneration Institute, Cardiff University; Member of the Food Ethics Council
Andrew Opie, Food Policy Director, British Retail Consortium
Prof Chris Ritson, Professor of Agricultural Marketing: University of Newcastle upon Tyne; Treasurer of the Food Ethics Council
Geoff Tansey, Joseph Rowntree Visionary for a Just and Peaceful World; Trustee of the Food Ethics Council
John Vidal, Environment Editor, The Guardian
Paul Whitehouse, Chair, Gangmasters Licensing Authority

(image: creative commons - Diane M Byrne)