True Cost Accounting
On December 6th 2013, the Sustainable Food Trust convened an international conference on the theme of 'True Cost Accounting in Food and Farming'.
Bringing together world-leaders from across food, farming, conservation, research, finance and government policy, we wanted to investigate why our current economic system makes it more profitable to produce food in ways that damage the environment and human health, instead of rewarding methods of production that deliver benefits.
To access all of the Powerpoint presentations from the event, Click here.
Sustainability Metrics
There is growing evidence that agriculture and food is one of the most significant contributors to the transgression of ‘planetary boundaries’, especially in the area of greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, soil, water, and nitrogen use. At the World Economic Forum earlier this year, Professor Johan Rockström pointed out that, “A transition to sustainable agriculture and […]
The story
Patrick Holden
Chief Executive, Sustainable Food Trust
Address to public conference
HRH Prince Charles
Prince of Wales
Hidden costs of our food system
Professor Jules Pretty
Environment and Society, University of Essex, England
Climate change & agriculture
Professor Whendee Silver
Environmental Science, UC Berkeley, California
Costing the impacts of food waste
Nadia Scialabba
Senior Officer, FAO, United Nations
Food policy & health
Professor Tim Lang
Food Policy, City University, London
Financing the food system
Peter Blom
Chief Executive, Triodos Bank, Netherlands
Agri-chemicals & health
Dr Pete Myers
Founder, Environmental Health Sciences, USA
Costing food waste
Tristram Stuart
Founder, Feeding 5000, London
True cost of coffee
Adrian de Groot Ruiz
Chief Executive, True Price, Holland
Farming the desert
Helmy Abouleish
Chief Executive, SEKEM, Egypt
Ecosystems to food systems services
Pavan Sukhdev
Chief Executive, GIST Advisory, New Delhi
Nature versus food production
Peter Seligmann
Chief Executive, Conservation International, USA
Nature versus food production
Ann Tutwiler
Director General, Bioversity International, Rome
Nature versus food production
Mike Clarke
Chief Executive, RSPB, England
Panel Sessions
The need for food systems change
Leaders in the fields of farming, public policy, business and finance, discuss the urgent need for change to our current food systems
True cost in practice
Challenges and benefits of true cost accounting in real world scenarios
Nature vs food production
Can nature friendly food systems be productive and profitable?
Testing the proposition
Does it stack up? A panel discussion chaired by the BBC’s John Humphrys