How can we secure the future of our food supply and health of our city? Amy Ritchie writes about the challenges faced and an interactive workshop being held as part of the Engage with Strathclyde events programme.
The current world population of 7 billion is expected to rise to 9-10 billion by 2050, and with this comes the question: how can we possibly continue to grow enough food to sustain the Earth’s human population? Feeding this number of people, whilst mitigating against further global climate change will be two of the most momentous challenges facing humanity.
Action to tackle this huge challenge is needed at local as well as national and international level. As Scotland’s most populous city, Glasgow is striving to become more sustainable, which will help to provide a better quality of life for all residents. The Sustainable Strathclyde team have spent a lot of time in the past year growing and tending the Strathclyde University campus community garden. This initiative has been a great success, involving staff from across the University and producing a bumper crop of seasonal vegetables, which were donated to local charity Glasgow City Mission. But how can this be scaled and sustained at city-wide level?
Together, we must stop thinking of “sustainable” as sacrifice, and instead look for opportunities to make positive changes for Glasgow and Scotland.
On the 2nd of May Sustainable Strathclyde will host an interactive workshop to explore ways in which Glasgow could become a sustainable food city. The event will provide some key insights into the best practices in terms of food production, procurement and consumption in Scotland with input from Nourish Scotland and ethical wholesaler Greencity Wholefoods. We will explore how institutions can play a leading role through promoting ethical buying and promoting healthy, local produce.
In Scotland, 14% of the population still live in poverty, and people from lower socio-economic classes are most likely to experience food insecurity, as well as suffer from health conditions such as obesity and heart disease. The Scottish Government has committed to reducing deep-seated health inequalities, and provision of quality, sustainable food plays a large role in this.
Join us on the 2nd of May to discuss the practical ways in which institutions and organisations can help lead the way in securing the future of our food supply and health of our city.
For more information about the event and to register to attend, please visit the event page on the Engage with Strathclyde website.
Look-out for more posts from Engage with Strathclyde participants on the Glasgow City of Science and Innovation Blog and follow them on Twitter @EngageStrath