Welcome to your conference. The idea is that the people who attend the conference will have helped to shape it, suggested the format and defined the approach. We hope this will mean that everyone gets as much out of the event as possible, and that this will be more than just another conference.
How you can get involved:
- Register to come to the conference by 23 March. Details here.
- The top 3 discussion topics as voted by you are part of the programme. You will have a chance to shape the discussions on the day.
Leave a comment below, or email us at placetoplate@cardiff.ac.uk with your ideas.
Thanks! We value and appreciate your participation, and we hope that together we will produce a conference that is more stimulating, productive and enjoyable that we could do alone.
I’d love to see a roundtable which brings together people researching informal food markets around the world with practitioners in UK city and farmers’ markets. I think it would be really fruitful to reveal multiplicy, highlight just how differently markets and exchange can work, and maybe get people out of various ruts.
Sounds good. I think it’s always surprising how much common ground can be found between very different countries.
upscaling! lots of really positive stuff happening at the local level, but how do we upscale?! Would really like some discussion around this.
All good ideas above!
It’s not precisely my ‘area’, but I’d love to include something on opportunities for collaboration in promoting ‘good food’ or ‘food sustainability’ between groups that usually have a difficult time finding common ground. What I’m think of most immediately is a panel uniting the ‘techies’ and the ‘sustainables’ (but I’m sure there are other ‘unlikely partners’ out there, too). I wrote a blog about the potential for collaboration between the high-tech gastronomes and the sustainable movement, and my colleague wrote a blog about the ‘right place’ for the biotech movement in sustainable agricultural development – both on the ‘collaboration’ topic page of the Purefood blog: http://purefoodlinks.eu/tag/collaboration/ . Anyway, that’s a roundtable or a panel that I’d find really interesting.
Two areas of interest I’d like to see discussed in detail are:
1. Food tourism: moving beyond the notion of eating locally authentically as part of a tourist experience and researching all areas of eating practices for tourists and different forms of tourism/ mobilities (including airport food, poor imitations of culinary expectations etc)
2. Food and emotions.
I’d like to see something on the food sovereignty movement in the North, as much of it has centered on the global South. In particular, I’m interested in the sometimes contradictions between what people in multiethnic urban sites of the North want in terms of food (eg imported foods from native countries) and the localization issue, and how this all fits or doesn’t fit within the food sovereignty ideal of people having ‘control’ over their local food system.
Shumaisa,
Are you conducting research on food sovereignty movement in the context of Global North? If so, I’d like to have a conversation with you. I’m more interested in various agri-food knowledge systems given that some of them are conflicting and/or competing with one another. How can we develop a more democratic and inclusive platform to generate transformative agri-food knowledge and what’s the role of university in the development of such a platform?
As well as ideas for topics we’d welcome thoughts on formats and different ways to run discussions. Has any one been to an event that had a really good way of getting people talking? Or have you got any ideas you’d like to try out? For example, I was wondering about a speed dating thing where you get a couple of minutes to explain your research.
One of the areas I’d like to discuss is food knowledge, how people make choices or find out how to prepare food. (My particular focus is in feeding decisions by parents for young children)
This promises to be a really interesting conference given the ideas posted on this thread. My own research focuses on Short Food Supply Chains in the UK and The Gambia, so I am particularly pleased that some of you have mentioned the global North-South aspect as a potential point of comparison. I am also fascinated by the emotional and embodied aspects of food, so it would be great if we can discuss this in more detail, especially in terms of researching and analysing things like affect.
Hannah – You also mention a ‘speed dating’ format. I think this could work well early on so that everyone can understand who is interested in what etc.
I’d like to second/third/fourth the North-South linkages theme (which itself could be an umbrella for any number of sub-themes …)
I also like the idea of a speed dating ‘intro’ round early on.
Another ‘how’ idea might be to pair each presenter / presentation with a designated commenter (who will have read the presentation, or at least a draft of it, beforehand, and generated some targeted, careful, somewhat in-depth commentary, or perhaps even her own ‘response’ to it.) The presentation and comment could also of course be followed by a ‘usual’ Q&A. But the commenter pairing might be a nice way to ‘set the stage’ for the Q&A afterwards …
I’m researching growing your own on allotments in Somerset and have done some cooking research. I feel that in academic food literature there is a lack of focus on the food. To remedy this I would suggest we look at food local to the event through a local producers exhibition – to see what is grown in the area. Also we could discuss short supply chains, local food choices through tasting local food offerings. This way we could explore the sensory engagement with what we are debating.
I agree on that – moreover I find it interesting to focus on the importance of proper kitchens, professional staff and the empowerment of endusers.
Looking forward
Great! All suggestions sound super interesting. I would love to discuss sustainability in food conventional chains and by conventional I mean mass-produced/global supply chains/big guys Nestlé, Unilever, Kraft and the likes.
In terms of tools for discussion, I think we could also play with some scenario making and/or visioning exercises.
Thanks for putting this together!
Hi! I think this conference will be very engaging and productive. I am thinking if people will be interested in discussions around food and race. To look specifically at consumption practices and how they are inflected with multicultural realities in particular contexts.
Thanks for sending out the invite!
No doubt some of you will be in Cardiff for the Aesop conference later this week. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/research/sustainableplaces/news/aesop/index.html Look out for your friendly conference organisers!
Lashend – your commentary idea is great. I attended a Critical Social Policy conference in London earlier this year where a presentation was given and then straight afterwards a designated commentator gave their critical response to the paper (as they had read a draft beforehand). The commentator then acted as a chair for Q&A with the rest of the audience. It was an excellent, stimulating format, and meant several people commentated/chaired throughout the day. The only disadvantage is that if there are lots of presentations timekeeping may be a problem.
This comment is more in relation to the logistics of the conference. If teas and coffees or a light meal is to be provided, could it possibly come from a sustainable or local provider. All too often at these meetings we talk about these issues then drink coffee from disposable cups and eat tasteless sandwiches. It would be good to practice what we preach, and it would be tastier hopefully.
what about including some phd-dropouts like myself who have started community food projects of one sort of another – so then we can speak intelligibly and practically – help get the dialogue going more strongly between academia and practice so we can slowly take over the world together?
i run a working food cooperative in berlin, germany http://www.dickesbee.org (we try to balance local eating with select imports – always having direct contact with our farmers – and our animals!) – and we have counterparts who started an urban farm http://www.stadtgarten.org. i can contact some other interesting projects in other countries as well…thoughts?
We’ve put the suggested discussion themes together so you can vote for the 2 you think should be on the programme. Thanks for other suggestions on how the day should run- we’ll do our best to include these ideas too.
Thanks for the reminder, Hannah! Here’s the link where you can vote: http://placetoplate.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/126/
Hi Hannah – This looks really great, everyone’s ideas a brilliant!
I have voted, but I’d just like to second Emily and say that I would really like to see something on Food and emotions, and particularly how food initiatives could be used positively for mental as well as other types of health issues, and rehabilitation from diseases of consumption such as alcoholism, drug abuse as well as overeating and obesity…
B
I would like a debate to open a debate regarding the impact of collaboration on food security
Hi, I will be travelling to Cardiff by car for the conference. I intend to leave my car at the Park and ride East and then bus into the city centre. I will be leaving from near Chippenham and there will be three spaces free in my car…….. Does anyone want a lift? My route will be A420 Marshfield then A46 from Pennsylvania, M4 jct 18 then on to Cardiff. I will be leaving Cardiff when the conference ends and not staying on. Times yet to be calculated.
If you want to contact me about lift share please use e mail: Vixosborne@hotmail.com
As she mentioned on the day, Tess can help any one who’d like to sign up tot eh BSA food group. Here’s her mesage:
It’s a while ago, but… I think I offered to send you information about the British Sociological Association’s Food Study Group for the blog. It’s basically an information network, and we organise a few events through the year, most significantly the international Food and Society conference in London in early July. Membership for students is free, and we welcome anyone with an interest in food from any discipline. If anyone would like to join, please send me an email, I’ll get a membership form to them.
We also have a facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/BSA-Food-Study-Group-Scoff
Tess Baxter
e-mail: Tess.Baxter@soton.ac.uk