Action for Equality, Democracy and Sustainability
29 November 2025
Join Us at Our Next Coffee With Politics Morning
29 November - 10.00-12.30
NEW VENUE - Friends' Meeting House
Booking essential
The Political Economy of the Food System - How it impacts us and what we can do about it
To mark the conclusion of the 30th UN Climate Change COP in Brazil, our next coffee morning will look at the food system and its impact, not just on carbon emissions, but on almost every aspect of our lives. We want to understand how it works and what we, as Compass people, can do to resist the almost intolerable pressures.
The discussions around what to do reach across many areas: from the political power of the farm and business lobbies to rapid climate change and other environmental impacts; from startling new technologies to the major equity issues involved; not to speak of the cultural contexts around food including the resistance of some consumers to change. One thing for sure, major changes are coming.
We have three great speakers to help us explore different aspects of the issue. Join us for coffee, conversation, and lively insight into our food system.
Speaker: Stuart Gillespie is an Honorary Associate at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. He has spent his career fighting to transform our dysfunctional food system and has worked with a range of UN agencies, founding several global food and nutrition policy research initiatives. He has numerous publications and his latest book is Food Fight, published by Canongate and described by Henry Dimbleby as articulating “the intricate web of historical economic and political factors that have led us to this point of crisis”. He has many constructive things to say about how we can get out of the crisis.
Speaker: Ali Ghanimi is Head of Partnerships and Programmes at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, which led the city’s bid to become the first Gold Sustainable Food City. Ali leads the city’s food strategy work, bringing together communities, businesses and the public sector to tackle systemic issues such as food poverty, diet-related ill health and food waste. She works with food partnerships, academics and campaigners to influence food policy at a local, regional and national level. She also writes on food issues for Sussex Bylines.
Speaker: Ben Simanowitz is involved with the Plant-based Council campaign which is seeking to get councils across the country to adopt formal commitments to shift catering and food procurement towards plant-based options. The objective is to serve as a model for public institutions and businesses and to help B&H council become carbon neutral by 2030. Ben has started to make links into the council and will report on his progress.
Click here for more information.
Click here to sign up to our Mailing List. We sill send an announcement of the event in early November, with a link to book.
Click here to see meeting notes from previous Coffee Mornings - including Progressive Politics - What's Next?, Poverty, Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation, The Economy, The Environment, and more.
Local Government Reorganisation in Progress
Get involved in Sussex Campaigning
A major cause for concern for Sussex Compass is that, although the Supplementary Vote is being reinstated for mayoral elections, this is not due to be introduced until 2027, so the Sussex mayoral elections in May 2026 are still set to take place under First Past the Post. Please look out for our letter-writing campaign aimed at getting this remedied.
Compass groups in Sussex will be organising around the mayoral elections, working to achieve a progressive win and campaigning for a positive programme for this new tier of government. Would you be interested in joining a Sussex-wide group of Compass supporters to work towards a progressive mayoralty? If so, we would love to hear from you - please email brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk and we'll be in touch.
Coming Events - Coffee with Politics Mornings
January 2026 To Be Determined
About Brighton and Hove Compass
Nationally and locally, Compass campaigns for the good society, one that is more equal, democratic, and sustainable. We believe that no single organisation or political party can create the good society. And that the main progressive parties have far more in common than differences. So, we need to develop new and radical collaborations to achieve a good society.
Brighton and Hove is an amazing creative and progressive place with a vibrant artistic, community and voluntary sector. A city with an great track record of campaigning that remains as alive as ever with Pride, Black Lives Matter and others. And we are fortunate to have a council with a progressive majority. But our city is also a place where wealth and extreme poverty, poor housing, low paid and seasonal work, and homelessness sit side by side so, when we re-launched our local Compass group in 2020, our priority was to support Brighton build back better after the pandemic. However, our local collaboration can only achieve so much without changing Britain’s centralised, short term and tribal political system. We believe that there are three key elements getting in the way:
- Our unfair electoral system
- Our tribal politics
- Our over centralised national and local political systems
We are exploring ideas, discussing issues and planning strategies. We do this at our bi-monthly coffee mornings and other events in Brighton and Hove.
B&H Compass needs your input
Over the coming 2-3 years, B&H Compass will be holding campaigning actions and conversations around the broad theme of democracy and power. Watch this space for more, or contact us on brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk if you have ideas or would like to get involved.
Brighton and Hove Compass is coordinated by a volunteer steering group of seven.
Join Compass here https://action.compassonline.org.uk/. And email us locally at brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk
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