Food4Thought : Increasing food prices: how are they affecting different actors in the food system?

On December 4th the third edition of the Food4Thought debate was organized. This event aims to bring students from various food-related programs together to discuss issues associated to the food system. This year’s theme was: "Increasing food prices: how are they affecting different actors in the food system?". A topic that is familiar to most people.   

After a reception with great food provided by Stella vs Food, professor Xavier Gellynck kicked of the event with a talk focusing on the causes and consequences of price volatility. Filled with new insights from the talk, the students discussed on some controversial statements, e.g. ‘We should give free food to people in poverty (and therefore, increase prices for people not in poverty.’; ‘UGent should implement a sustainable food policy, thus only serve local foods and plant-based foods at low prices for the students, and therefore increase the tuition fees.’; and many more. Finally, students decided on their position regarding the statement and presented this in a 2-minute pitch. A winning pitch was selected by the audience.