Spurred on by Expo Milan, La Scala is having a busy couple of months. Entitled Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, the Expo is supposed to stimulate ideas for sustainable nutrition in a world with a rapidly expanding population and an equally rapidly diminishing arable area. However, the report from those who have braved the enormous crowds and endless queues is that the pavilions seem to be more about national aggrandisement than practical solutions, and that the money involved in setting it up might have been better spent actually feeding the needy.