Workshop "Meat, Sustainability and Culture"

Amsterdam, 4th October 2012, 13h - 17.15h at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University.

**** call for poster presentations ****

Current Western food consumption patterns are associated with ecological, social and human health issue. Particularly, the excessive consumption of foods derived from animals stands out as problematic. The fact that diets have to change into a more sustainable direction is generally agreed upon. However, a shared vision of a sustainable and desirable society to support these changes is missing. Therefore, solutions need to be sought also in the realm of food culture and related values and worldviews.

This workshop is meant to investigate the interactions between food culture and a more sustainable diet. It aims to identify cultural leverages that can stimulate consumption patterns featuring higher quality meat, smaller portions or more vegetarian meals. We encourage also interdisciplinary perspectives.

Program:
13.00h Reception
13.15 -13.30h opening Jan Boersema (IVM)
13.30 -14.00h Cor van der Weele, Wageningen University (commentary Mara Miele)
14.00 – 14.30h Jesper Lassen: "Towards a sustainable diet? Report from a nation of meat-eaters!" Copenhagen University (commentary Cor van der Weele)
14.30- 15.00h Mara Miele, Cardiff University: Enacting animal welfare, promoting sustainable animal farming practices? (commentary Jesper Lassen)
15.00 – 16.00h poster presentations and coffee/tea break
16.00 – 16.30h Harry Aiking, IVM, Amsterdam: "Protein is pivotal in resource efficiency and diet diversity" (commentary F.-T. Gottwald)
16.30 – 17.00 F.-T. Gottwald: „Which kind of meat consumption is ethically justifiable? Case Studies, Best Practice and Projects made in Germany" (commentary Harry Aiking)

For more information about the program please email the organizer Hanna Schösler, hanna.schosler@vu.nl. Participation is free of charge, but please let us know that you will be attending. You can register with Dr. Eleftheria Vasileiadou, e.vasileiadou@vu.nl,             +31-20-5989578      

Mission:Explore Food

Mission:Explore Food is the latest in the series of guerrilla geography books for children and educators to come out of The Geography Collective. The book includes 159 challenges that encourage (young) people to think critically and creatively about food. Illustrated chapters cover growing, harvesting, cooking, eating, waste and soil. A press release for the book is available (http://thegeographycollective.wordpress.com/missionexplore/missionexplorefood) and for a limited time the eBook is available to download for free from Amazon (http://amzn.to/Q0DSRn). Creative commons versions are also available to be used for free in schools. The book was collaboratively written by geographers and then crowd funded by over 170 individuals and organisations including Festival Republic and National Geographic.



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www.missionexplore.net
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