Today's News

02 March 2010

New website gives reasons to love organic:
The Organic Trade Board has launched the opening salvo in its mission to grow sales of organic food with a new consumer website. Whyiloveorganic.co.uk, which went live last week, will act as the focal point for OTB's new marketing campaign. The group hopes the campaign will grow sales of organic food by 15% over the next three years. As well as presenting news, social media activity, industry updates and research on consumer attitudes to organics, the site will contain links to organic bloggers and look to explode popular myths about organic food.
The Grocer (27 Feb, p.32)

Bananas are the food we love to waste
Fruit, salad and vegetables are the most wasted items in the weekly shopping basket with the banana in top place, closely followed by fresh milk, according to the latest research.
The Daily Telegraph (2 March, p.1)


Reporting from the NFU's annual conference - Lord Smith in favour of GM
Lord Smith, Environment Agency Chairman, is reported to have come out in favour of GM.  He said: "My own personal view is that we probably need to be readier to explore GM options, coupled of course with proper environmental safeguards."
Farmers Weekly (26 Feb, p.22)
Peter Kendall, re-elected NFU President "launched a stinging attack on the Soil Association for using 'scare tactics' against GM", and accused Peter Melchett of being "outrageous and immoral". Emma Hockridge, Head of Policy at the Soil Association is quoted: "there's absolutely no evidence that GM is the answer to feeding the world or tackling climate change."
Farmers Guardian (26 Feb, p.2)

Super size dairy cause for concern
Farmers Weekly columnist Matthew Naylor says: "I find it hard to think of a practical objection to continuing agricultural industrialization. My problem is an emotional one.  Deep in my tummy I have a growing sense of unease about the direction in which agriculture is moving.” A Kansas farmer is quoted: "Tese mega-farms are old news here... it won't be good for British stock growers and dairy men".
Farmers Weekly (26 Feb, pp. 31-32)

Need for better regulation of pesticides
Report on how farmers have got to change the way they use pesticides following the discovery of higher than legal levels of pesticides in water this winter, and following the discovery that farmers were using banned herbicides.
Farmers Guardian (26 Feb, p. 19)
The NFU person running the voluntary pesticide scheme says that only a small number of farmers are breaking the law and that this does "not mean that voluntary stewardship is not working."
Farmers Weekly (26 Feb, p.30)

Response: Our salmon are not ‘factory-farmed’. We’re a leader in animal welfare
Scott Landsburgh responds to Jonathan Safran Foer's opinions on the salmon industry ('No fish gets a good death', 23 Feb).
The Guardian (2 March, p.33)


The food revolution we still await
Joan Smith responds to Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals and claims that despite the late Rose Gray’s efforts to promote the use of authentic ingredients, most people in the UK still survive on ‘pre-cooked rubbish’.
The Independent (2 March, p.33)


Farming Today
Website summary: Anna Hill takes a slippery walk through fields in East Anglia and hears surprising statistics which show that despite the snowfall, the winter has been drier than normal. Also on a watery note, Anna explores whether fields should be deliberately flooded to protect towns and cities from flooding. And we meet the West Country sausage maker who has found a new market selling bangers to China.
BBC Radio 4 (listen again)


And finally…growing carrots can make you lose the plot
Michael Leapman reflects on the news that growing your own carrots can cost 15 times more than buying them from a supermarket: ‘We vegetable gardeners are not in it for the money…we do it because we think that by toiling at our winter digging, by meticulously pruning the soft fruit, earthing up the potatoes, hoeing between the rows of cauliflowers, boasting of our rare triumphs and concealing the disasters, we are living a version of The Good Life, the rural idyll.’
The Daily Telegraph (2 March, p.20)


Quote of the day
“Children need to be taught about food preparation and cooking at school, from an early age. And that’s a more realistic project to pursue than a mass conversion to vegetarianism.”
Joan Smith – The Independent – 2 March 2010