TABLE launch event: Should the future of food be global or local?

We invite you to join the launch event of our new food dialogue initiative Table. Table is a collaboration between the University of Oxford, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Wageningen University and Research, and it builds upon the work of the Food Climate Research Network.

Debates about the future of food have become more polarised and polarising than ever before. All too often, little attention is paid to why people hold genuinely different views and how these differences inform analyses both of the problems and of possible solutions. Table aims to fill this attention gap by exploring the evidence and values that people bring to debates about food, in order to facilitate more reflective, informed and constructive dialogue. We aim to highlight not only critical differences but also areas of agreement so that we can suggest paths forward.

This kick-off event will be a conversation about scale in the food system. It will centre on perhaps one of the most complex questions around food and sustainability: At what scale should the food system operate? In other words, should the future food system be more globalised or localised, and why?

We are delighted to have this conversation with two thoughtful panelists who approach this topic from different backgrounds and perspectives: Maryam Rahmanian, an international consultant on biodiversity and agroecology and member of the IPES Food Expert Panel, and Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. More information about the speakers can be found at the bottom of the event registration page.

The moderated dialogue will be followed by an audience Q&A session, reflections from different perspectives, and an informal networking session. We hope that you will join the conversation here to offer your ideas and reflections.