11-15 October, 2007
Katherine Symonds, Craig Sams, Guy Watson, Janice Ansine
This course is one of a series of 4-day courses, facilitated by CarbonSense, that addresses different aspects of climate change. Running over a weekend, they are designed to be as accessible as possible to those who cannot spare many days away from their workplace. These courses will give participants interested in showing leadership on climate change the opportunity to take a critical and in-depth look at some of the most important areas of debate and action in this area. Each 4-day course is booked separately.
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss food policy, covering production to consumption, with representatives from a range of industry leading companies. They will have the chance to explore how established and new ideas can translate into practical initiatives which address a wide range of carbon concerns across the food industry.
Over four barrels of oil are consumed to feed each Briton each year. Nine percent of UK carbon emissions come from agriculture and another 9 percent from the processing and distribution of food. This course will help participants understand how the carbon footprint of the food system can be reduced. Course tutors will present the international policy dimension, the practical “on-the-ground” vision of a major organic producer and the plans of a major food retailer to reduce its carbon footprint. Participants will explore how new approaches translate into practical policy initiatives including in large urban areas.
This course is aimed at all those who are involved in planning for the future of our food system including local authority officers, food retailers and growers, policy makers, academics and consumers.
Katherine Symonds is Climate Change Manager at Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket.
Craig Sams founded Whole Earth Foods and later Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate.
Guy Watson is founder of Riverford Farm, one of the largest organic vegetable farms in the UK, with an extensive vegetable box scheme and a number of retail outlets.
Janice Ansine is Project Coordinator for the Greener Food Project, run by London Sustainability Exchange.
Thursday, October 11 (5pm onwards)
Arrival and introductory meeting.
Friday, October 12 – Supermarkets and climate change
Katherine Symonds: This session will look at the many different ways that the UK’s largest food retailer, Tesco, is addressing the challenge to minimise its carbon footprint. It will also consider what a retailer can do to help its customers minimise their impact on the planet, particularly the progress being made on developing a universally applicable carbon label.
Saturday, October 13 – Food, agriculture and climate change: a global perspective
Craig Sams: Agriculture has been a major driver of climate change, beginning with the ploughing of virgin soils, tractorisation, chemical fertilisers and then intensification of animal rearing. It also has more potential than any other sector to help effect a rapid and permanent sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere and to curtail further emissions. This win-win capability will be discussed, with a historical overview followed by a vision of the future shape of agriculture where rewards for carbon capture and penalties for emissions will change the underlying economic paradigm of farming.
Sunday, October 14 – The future of organic production in a warming world
Guy Watson: This session will look at the food industry from the organic producer’s perspective. Guy will present a carbon audit of his business and discuss how this compares to other methods of food production and distribution. He’ll discuss practical improvements being undertaken in relation to regional development, efficiency in distribution, packaging and on-farm energy use, and how to deal with customer expectations. Finally, he’ll look at the problems of scale and the possibilities of developing alternative energy sources.
Monday, October 15 – Greener food – healthier business
Janice Ansine: The final day will look at work being undertaken in London to “green” small and medium-sized food and drink businesses. Janice will outline the approaches taken by the Greener Food Project both in developing more carbon-friendly practices and in training staff to ensure good practice becomes part of the food system beyond the life of the project.
CarbonSense facilitators: Action plans – taking what’s been learned into the workplace.
Departure after lunch.
For businesses: £900
For individuals, NGOs & Educators: £800
These include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.
How to make an application – click here
For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College
To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.
