The Union Chapel Big Debate: How Can We Reclaim Our Food?

Doors open at 6pm

Discussion and Q&A from 6.30pm-7.30pm

Drinks and chatting from 7.30pm-8.30pm

Everyone should be able to eat the food they need to thrive. Local, ethical, sustainable businesses and entrepreneurs should be able to thrive. The way we live our lives should have a positive impact on nature and the planet. And people and communities coming together is the only route to achieving real change.

These are the principles of our new Islington Food Strategy 2023-2028, which we're launching with the first ever Islington Food Week 6th-12th March 2023.

Join us on International Women's Day as our panel of speakers talk about how we can reclaim our food, ensuring we all have access to the food we need to thrive.

Food injustice campaigner, Diana Award recipient, one of BBC’s 100 Influential Women in 2020

Christina was founding co-chair of Bite Back 2030, a youth-led movement fighting the injustices of the food industry. She fronted national campaigns over the years such as extending free school meal provision over lockdown, which garnered 450,000 signatures on her petition and led to Marcus Rashford’s summer campaign for free school meals. Christina worked intensely during and after college at Bite Back, focusing on their external relations with government and corporations. She travelled Europe speaking at conferences, working with the senior executives of multinational companies to improve their child health strategy.

Claire Pritchard

Chair of the London Food Board, Director of Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency.

Claire Pritchard has been the Chair of the London Food Board since 2018, appointed by Mayor Sadiq Khan. She has been a member of the board since 2005, and Chief Executive of Greenwich Co-operative Agency for over 15 years. Claire’s experience includes opening restaurants, developing training courses to help businesses sell healthier food, managing urban food-growing projects and community food access schemes and setting up markets. She has also worked extensively with local authorities and property developers all over London to make food better across the capital.

Colin Adams MBE

Director of Hanley Crouch Community Association, Octopus Community Network Chair

Colin is the Director of a Community hub in North Islington (Hanley Crouch Community Association), and is the Chair of the Octopus Community Hubs network, a collective of 15 community centres across Islington. He is also the chair of the Hate Crime Forum which was set up in 2020 and works with approx. 20 community groups/networks across Islington ranging from faith groups to LGBT organisations. The aim is to increase the reporting of hate crime and more importantly, detection and sanction rates. Colin was the team leader in the Equality & Diversity team for the Department for Children, Schools and Families for over 20 years.He was awarded an MBE for services to equality and diversity and young people in the New Years Honours list in 2007.

Chaired by

Hekate Papadaki

Chair of Islington Food Partnership, CEO of Manor Gardens Welfare Trust