Leading academic joins guest panel at Lewes Climate Hub on ‘building better local food resilience’

Ronald Ranta is a lecturer and academic on human rights and is the co-founder of the Alliance for Dignified Food Support. He is also chair of the board of trustees for Fitzjohns Community Food in Lewes and part of the Pinch Points Project team, which tackles local food insecurity.

The discussion, titled ‘Building better local food resilience’, takes place on Saturday, October 18, at 32 Lewes High Street, from 1pm to 2.30pm. No booking is required for this free event. It is part of Lewes Climate Hub’s ‘Nourishing Our Community’ food season.

Other panellists will include Lewes District Councillor Emily O’Brien, Cabinet Member for Climate, Nature and Food Systems, and Collette Haynes from Ashhurst Organics.

Jane Carpenter, a director of Lewes Climate Hub, said: “Ensuring a resilient, affordable and dignified food supply for all needs to be a priority for policymakers in the face of the rising cost of living, climate change and so many factors that could disrupt global food supply chains. We’re delighted to welcome Ronald, Emily and Collette to discuss these issues and invite anyone concerned about our local food security to come along.”

The panel discussion aims to explore what action is being taken, plus what needs to happen, to strengthen community food supply in the Lewes District. Challenges to community food supply include: extreme weather, increased dependence on food banks, rising food prices and reliance on the ‘last-minute’ delivery models of major supermarkets.

Suggestions about ways to support greater local food growing and production will be fed back to Lewes District Council.