Climate change: debating the impact of what we eat >>> Costing the Earth @ Bristol Food Connections

We are now halfway through Bristol's food festival:
Bristol Food Connections - Bristol Food Connections

It's an interesting and exciting concept:

Food Connections is a new kind of food festival, one that delivers more than just the opportunity to watch others cook and instead offers up experiences, inspiration and learning that transform the way we think about food. The festival will be returning for its third year from Friday 29th April to Saturday 7th May, embracing Bristol’s independent spirit and supporting the farmers, chefs, food projects and businesses that work tirelessly to put good food on our plates.

It is no secret that we face huge challenges when it comes to producing the food we eat. We believe that a healthy, local food system can only be achieved a hungry and informed public drive demand for good food, produced locally by people with passion, who care for our environment.

Over nine days in early May, thousands of people across the city will break bread together at events of all shapes and sizes. Our programme includes celebratory feasts and banquets, brain-food discussions & debates, cooking demos and community events covering everything from cooking skills, to soil, children’s events to foraging walks. All events are designed to be fun, engaging and educational, helping the public to engage with the social, environmental and economic challenges we face in feeding our growing population.

Food Connection is for everybody, to find out how what you can do, visit the Get involved page.

The short video below gives you an idea of what we’re all about…

About - Bristol Food Connections

Two years ago, Radio 4's Costing the Earth hosted a session at the festival:
Futures Forum: The Future of our Food ........ on Costing the Earth

This year it is doing the same - and it's all about the carbon footprint of our food:
Futures Forum: Climate change: and taxing meat
Futures Forum: Climate change: 'a balanced diet produces six per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than a typical meat-rich diet' 

Tom Heap chairs a discussion between different experts with very different views on Radio 4 tonight:

Four Menus to Save the Planet

Costing the Earth

Listen in pop-out player

How should we eat to reduce our carbon footprint and save the planet? Should we all give up meat? Or eat only meat that's reared on grassland which couldn't be used for anything else? Or maybe eat intensively-reared meat that grows so fast that it has no time to emit a lot of methane before it's slaughtered?

Aside from meat, how important are food miles? Some argue that food grown in hot countries and transported here by boat has a lower overall carbon footprint than
food grown in Britain.

Tom Heap chairs a debate from the Bristol Food Connections festival with four experts who have very different views, and present their own menus for low-carbon eating: Jasmijn de Boo, Chief Executive of the Vegan Society, Simon Fairlie, author of "Meat - A Benign Extravagance", Mark Lynas, environmental author, and Sean Rickard, agricultural economist.

BBC Radio 4 - Costing the Earth, Four Menus to Save the Planet

This part of the country is also holding events around the issues:
Futures Forum: Vegan events in Exeter >>> Go Vegan! launch 2nd April >>> Vegan Fair and Bake Sale 23rd April >>>
Futures Forum: Broad View from a Small Farm @ Sustainability Frontiers >>> event Saturday 6th February
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