Workshop to examine why is food expensive on Oct. 15

Have you also noticed how prices of everything in the grocery stores have been ticking up since the beginning of the year with no hint of stopping? Politicians, corporations, and pundits are quick to scapegoat the usual reasons for this “cost of living crisis” – inflation, geopolitical crisis, without taking a real look at, or responsibility for the policies and systems that caused them in the first place. But the reality is, we have been here before and the crisis we are experiencing, which is exactly what our industrial food system is designed to produce.

To discuss the above and look at the reasons why the price of food is ever relevant and critical for all readers, A Growing Culture, alongside Agroecology Coalition, University of Vermont – UVM Institute for Agroecology, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), and Rooted Magazine, are holding a free online workshop for journalists and media creators wanting to go beyond the usual headlines, and tell nuanced stories that make sense of what is behind the skyrocketing prices. The programme is designed to show how journalists, experts of food systems, and farmers on-the-ground would delve into the structural reasons why the food system is vulnerable and volatile, and highlight alternative solutions that are working.

“We will speak to voices from both the global majority and minority contexts, highlighting that although the conditions we face may be different in degree; we are bound in a common struggle. These ideas and storylines will lay out a new path forward for making reporting on the issue of rising food prices stronger, deeper, and more impactful for those it is impacting most”, the organisers said. The Media Workshop for Journalists and Storytellers is holding on October 15, 2026, 9am Eastern Time – ET/3pm Central European Summer Time – CEST in English, and would have interpretations in French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages.

The discourse is to be moderated by Thin Lei Win, award-winning multimedia journalist specialising in food and climate issues while experienced panelists would include Qammar Abbas, peasant rights activist, who also works on his family farm in southern Punjab, Pakistan; Raj Patel, IPES-Food panel expert, best-selling author, and Professor at the University of Texas; Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food panel expert and grocery industry veteran, who has written most recently, about New York City (NYC) Mayor Mamdani’s public grocery plan; and Anna Jones-Crabtree, regenerative organic farmer and systems changer in Montana, United States of America.