PES Group Workshop, 6 October, OPEN DAYS 2009
GROWTH
AT ALL COSTS? Bringing the local back
into the economy
Brussels, 9 September 2009
Mercedes BRESSO, President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions and President of the Piedmont Region (Italy), Olivier DE SCHUTTER, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and René SOUCHON, CoR rapporteur on Biodiversity and President of Auvergne Regional Council (France), will discuss how sustainable food production can boost local economies and restore growth in a socially and environmentally friendly manner. The workshop will take place in the seat of the CoR (Jacques Delors Building, Rue Belliard 101, Room 51, 1040 Brussels) on 6 October, between 14h30 and 16h00.
There are major challenges to be addressed in order to ensure that growth is accompanied by territorial cohesion. The trend towards uniform products, concentration of production and the practice of monoculture expose farmers and fishermen to global market fluctuations and threaten territorial diversity.
Speakers will discuss the political choices that have to be made in order to minimise the risk of rural depopulation, protect biodiversity, create new employment possibilities and foster rural diversification. They will explore ways of defending not just the right to food but also the right to affordable and quality food, which is often compromised because of budgetary constraints. They will also touch upon land use issues, which have major economic, social and environmental repercussions.
