The Debates – Reports

To convey the totality of two day long events is pretty difficult, unless you were actually there.  So what we have done is to provide all of the materials from the days that we can, along with a summary (coming soon) and a list of the bullet points and ideas that were raised.  

You can find all of these materials in the box to the right.  The presentations as saved as powerpoint shows, so you can view them in powerpoint or anything that allows you to view powerpoint. As for text we have put them in the box as PDF files, you can down load a reader if you need one here.  We have also made links to the speakers – either profiles of them or their organisations where ever we can. Don’t forget the discussion isn’t over yet. 

Event 1: “Production and Distribution”: Copthorne Hotel, Plymouth; Thursday 24^th April 2008  

Professor Les Firbank North Wyke Research – Les’s presentation is in the box labeled as Firbank, this link takes you to a text that Les presented on another occasion but covers the same themes. 

Andy Bradford: Brimpts Farm, Dartmoor - Andy’s presentation is labeled Bradford, this link takes you to Brimpts Farm.

Lynne Kenderdine Devon Wildlife Trust – Lynne’s presentation is labeled Kenderdine, this link takes you to the Devon Wildlife Trust. 

The chair of the day Professor Michael Winter, summed the discussion by saying that three words had been key – poverty, local and Policy.  He commented that these words were used in ways that perhaps 5 years previously they would not have been – poverty was a recognised feature of rural life, local was always used with reference to the global.  He was also struck about the lack of a discussion about the role of government, wondering if people no longer saw it as relevant or just an not being effective with regard to these questions, hence the word ‘policy’. 

Event 2 

Professor Henry Buller: University of Exeter – You can download both Henry’s presentation and the text of his talk – labeled as ‘Buller-pres’ and ‘Buller-text’ respectively. 

Elaine Spencer-White: Somerset Food Links – Elaine’s presentation is labeled ‘Spencer-White’.

Ken Parsons CE, Rural Shops Alliance  - Ken’s talk is labeled ‘Parsons’.

The chair of the day Sir Harry Studholme  brought the days discussions to a close by gathering the diverse views expressed by the participants, amongst the ideas that came from those taking part was the reduction of food waste, the possibility that supermarkets might purchase farms to keep costs down, the simplicity for government of only have to deal with a few large food suppliers, the impending publication of the Cabinet office’s report on food, and the ways in which British farmers co-operate.