Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture 2006
I thought I would pass on a press release that we received in our mailbox this evening, might be worth a look!
Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) invites you to attend the 2006 Memorial Lecture held annually in honour of Rachel Carson, No1 in the Environment Agency’s top 100 eco-heroes. “Farmers and Fashion - from Harvest to High Street”, is presented by Camilla Toulmin, Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development. A limited number of press reservations are available.
Media invitation: Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture 2006
Farmers and Fashion: from harvest to high street
How British consumers can support African farmers
5 December 2006, 6.30pm at the Royal Society for the Arts
From the underwear next to your skin to the shirt on your back and the sheets on your bed, cotton is part of everyday life.
In this year’s Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture, organised by Pesticides Action Network-UK (PAN UK), Dr Camilla Toulmin will reveal the stark reality of life for cotton farmers in semi-arid West Africa.
Toulmin, the director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, will explain how retailers, wholesalers and each of us, as consumers, can support more sustainable alternatives.
West African cotton stands as an icon for much that is wrong with our world. Hard-working farmers supply us with fibre at bargain basement prices. Agricultural subsidies paid out to cotton farmers in the US and Europe have brought the African farmers falling margins and incomes, despite their industry and competitive edge.
While West African art and music are widely acknowledged, the contribution of farmers to their countries and the global market is neither rewarded nor recognised. Their potential is undermined by unfair investment and trade policies that ignore local livelihoods and social needs.
PAN UK’s Cotton Project works with farmers, designers, suppliers and retailers ranging from well known High Street names to small cutting edge designers.
More than 10 million West Africans depend on the fine cotton that farmers coax from these semi-arid lands, without irrigation and making best use of what little rain falls.
High levels of pesticide use threaten health and endanger the fragile environment. But better and more sustainable alternatives are available. An increasing number of farmers are showing the benefits of changing their production by growing organic cotton.
How can we make a difference?
This year’s Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture will reveal the reality behind resourceful cotton farming communities of West Africa and how consumers could create more sustainable options for these women and men farmers.
William Lana of Greenfibres will chair the event. Copies of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking novel Silent Spring will be available and organic textiles will be displayed from the following design houses:
Hug www.hug.co.uk Ciel www.ciel.ltd.uk
Gossypium www.gossypium.co.uk People Tree www.ptree.co.uk
Organic for Kids www.organicsforkids.com Green Fibres www.greenfibres.co.uk
Cut4Cloth www.cut4cloth.co.uk Howies www.howies.co.uk Howies
Wildlifeworks www.wildlifeworks.co.uk Cat’s Eye www.catseyeworld.com
Katharine Hamnett www.katharinehamnett.com
Camilla Toulmin, an economist by training, has worked mainly in francophone West Africa, on agricultural, pastoral, and tenure issues. Her work focused particularly on livestock-crop relations in the region, and on issues of household strategies to ensure their longer-term security.
She was a member of the International Expert Panel supporting the preparation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Recent work includes research on land tenure in West Africa, livelihoods and poverty in Mali, challenges and opportunities relating to decentralisation, and collective management of common resources.
The lecture, at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 5 December, will be held at the Royal Society for the Arts, London. Call us on 020 7065 0905; email admin@pan-uk.org; or see the website www.pan-uk.org/booking to buy a ticket or support the event.
