Counting the cost of food

Organic: one of the topics for debate

Where and when is it taking place?
London’s Earl’s Court
April 24-27, 2008, with the debate at 5.30-6.30pm on April 24.

What will they be discussing?
Just as we have become accustomed to cheap, mass-produced food as the norm, there are ever-stronger signs that our planet cannot sustain all the demands that we place upon it.

In a ground-shifting debate with some of Britain’s best-known experts on food and the environment, the Real Food Festival will confront some of the issues we are certain to face in coming years and where the future of food lies.

· Is ethical living just a middle-class fad?

· Can organic food ever become mainstream?

· Could consumers afford the cost of supermarkets giving farmers a fair deal?

· Or is the £2.00 chicken an important benefit for low-income families?

· Are GM crops inevitable if we are going to feed the world’s ever-growing population?

· Do supermarkets win their share of the market because they a convenient and economical service?

Fresh: taste the produce from the people who produce it

· Small producers are being subsidised to participate, offering them a real opportunity to grow and develop their business.

· The festival will showcase hundreds of producers that have never been seen before at any large-scale food and drink event, offering an unprecedented variety of great quality produce that has made the grade in terms of taste, provenance and sustainability.

· It is both a trade and consumer event, giving stakeholders the chance to reach both audiences.

What will I see?
The Food Market
The biggest Farmers Market the UK’s ever seen.

The Wine Fair
Small producers of quality wines, beers and spirits will be selected to offer tastings and to buy.

Delicious Magazine workshops supported by Grana Padano
Created by Clodagh McKenna and Sebastiano Sardo from Foodiscover. You can meet the producer personally and have tutored tastings on the things you love or always wanted to try.

Cookery School: learn to make the simplest things like a loaf of bread

Real Food Theatre supported by Whole Foods Market
Chefs’ Theatre will stimulate the taste buds with presentations from some of the UK’s top chefs Raymond Blanc, Jun Tanaka, Mark Jankell and Shane Osborn using seasonal and fresh produce to prepare regional dishes.

Restaurants
A small selection of the UK’s most exciting and forward-thinking restaurants will serve signature dishes.

Gala Night
A high profile Gala launch night will be organised for the opening evening.

For more information on the festival or to purchase tickets please call the hotline 0870 912 0830 or visit The Real Food Festival online.

To register a question for the panel to answer at the debate visit The Real Food Festival online.