Lecture by Jason Glaser

Jason Glaser is an activist, human-rights campaigner and film-maker based in Nicaragua. After making the movie: Banana! which explored the hidden costs and consequences of banana production in the Caribbean, he became increasingly interested in the unexplained epidemic of chronic kidney disease in the low-lands of Nicaragua. There, he co-founded the La Isla Foundation, which explores the causes of the epidemic, which is more prevalent than AIDS in Nicaragua. The epidemic targets mainly sugar-cane plantation male workers, and therefore suggests the hidden costs of sugar cane plantation. Jason’s talk will explain the links between the local epidemic, and the increasing global demand for biofuels. The talk will include a video and an opportunity to discuss the uneven, often unexpected human costs of European ‘green’ policies.