Wednesday 30 April 2008, 7.30pm

Nigel Winter is CEO of the Vegan Society , which promotes ways of living that seek to exclude all forms of exploitation of animals for food, or any other purpose. The society is an important voice in publicizing the rarely discussed link between the use of animals for human consumption and climate change.

Second speaker, tba.

Brother Samuel is Minister of the European province of the Society of St Francis , which is committed to living in a way that honours all creatures, even the inanimate creation, as reflections of the goodness and glory of God. He oversees the Hilfield Project in Dorset , an initiative for peace and the environment, which aims to manage the land to enable the greatest possible diversity of plant life and animal habitat.

Chair: Silvija Davidson is convivium leader of Slow Food London and Chair of Slow Food UK . Slow Food began in Italy in the 1980s as a response to the seeming dominance of standardized fast food on the market. The movement is concerned with protecting the diverse heritage of regional food and drink from unthinking globalization and promoting a form of ‘eco-gastronomy’ that works with the earth rather than against it.

Panel Description: The panel will look at the effect our eating habits may be having on the environment and climate change. It will offer reasons for making different consumer choices in regard to the food we buy, and place the discussion in the context of communities of faith and earth stewardship.