An impending world food shortage crisis caused by the effects of climate change, limited water supplies and increasing competition produced by the demand for biomass to generate renewable energy is the focus of an evening lecture to be given by Professor Peter Lillford CBE at the University of Westminster at 5.30pm on 11 January 2011, organised by the Policy Studies Institute.
Professor Lillford, Chair in Public Awareness of Science at the University of York, will be examining these themes by drawing upon his recent report, ’Food Security – what does it mean and what should we do?’ which is published on the website of the International Food Information Service (www.foodsciencecentral.com).
Professor Lillford trained as a physical chemist and a bio-chemist, and later worked for Unilever as a research scientist from 1971-2001 – ending his career as Unilever’s Chief Scientist for Foods. From 1993 until 1997 he was Chairman of the Food & Drink Panel of the UK Office of Science and Technology’s Technology Foresight Programme.
Professor Lillford says; "At a global level to feed the world we know we must learn to produce more food raw materials and waste less at every part of the food chain, or millions might die. However, this needs to be approached on more than one level; the situation in the developing world is remarkably different to the situation in the developed one. While some may think that we are sheltered from potential food crises the truth is that everything is not so rosy."
He continues, "Without redistribution of wealth in the developing world, those with financial and technological riches will get richer and the poor stay poor. In times of crisis, that means that the rich eat and the poor starve. The lecture will explore the alternatives, including investment in education, people and technologies."
Ben Watson, Research Officer at the PSI Environment Group and organiser of the lecture says, "Securing global food supplies is a vitally important topic of conversation that must be discussed if policymakers are going to build a better future for people in both the developing and developed worlds. This lecture by Professor Lillford aims to explore and address some of the solutions to the problem, on a topic that we cannot afford to ignore."
For further information on the conference and to reserve places please visit: https://psi.wufoo.com/forms/sdrn-lecture-series-influencing-food-security/.
This is a free event, provided by the Sustainable Development Research Network’s (SDRN) ’Research into Practice’ workstream (funded by the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). For more information about SDRN, please click here: http://www.sd-research.org.uk/.
