Today's News

15 March 2010

Organic Trade Board advertorials:
The Organic Trade Board have placed a number of advertorials in The Guardian magazine and paper on Saturday. They include a case study of one family’s approach to eating organic, key facts about organic food and organic buying habits and a link to the website whyiloveorganic.co.uk.
The Guardian (13 March, p.42)
The Guardian Weekend (13 March, p.58)

Foreign meat workers in UK face physical abuse
Foreign labourers employed in the meat and poultry industry face physical and racist abuse by British staff, an investigation has found. The inquiry uncovered frequent breaches of the law and licensing standards in meat processing factories – some of which supply the UK’s biggest supermarkets.
The Independent (13 March)


The GM war in Europe starts here
A potato variant is the first GM crop to be approved for cultivation in Europe for 13 years. In what The Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean describes as a ‘little-noticed move’ last week, the European Commission “defied most of the governments to which it is supposed to answer to give the green light to growing a modified potato across the continent.”
The Daily Telegraph (13 March, p.22)


Farming is mainly to blame for the loss of our native plants and wildlife
Science editor Robin McKie reflects on Natural England’s report ‘Lost Life: England’s Lost and Threatened Species’ and says: “The great inroads made into the English countryside by farmers and builders has had a devastating effect on our wildlife, destroying food sources, shelter and homes for hundreds of species.”
The Observer (14 March, p.38)


Britain on a plate
A number of Soil Association’s licensees feature in The Good Food Producers Guide 2010 by Rose Prince. The book aims to highlight the many top quality food emporia to be found around the country.
The Daily Telegraph Weekend (13 March, pp.1-3)


The village shop that’s a true co-op
Residents of a Wiltshire village have taken over the running of their local shop after it was threatened with closure after being inspired by a plot from the Archers. The shop, which is staffed mostly by volunteers, sells locally-produced vegetables, meat, fish, and honey and on makes average daily takings of £800.
The Sunday Telegraph (14 March, p.17)


Blessed country
Jasper Conran describes a year spent travelling around rural England, meeting the people keeping ancient crafts and traditions alive. He visits a community apple press in Somerset ‘which has made a real difference to the lives of small scale apple growers in the area.’
The Telegraph Magazine (14 March, pp.46-51)


Requiem for Detroit
Julien Temple's new film shows post-industrial Detroit, once America’s fourth largest city. Forty per cent of the land in the centre is returning to prairie. Farming is coming back to the centre of the city, and young people are flocking to help. The burgeoning urban agricultural movement is the fastest growing movement in the US. Detroit leads the way again but in a very different direction.
BBC 2 (13 March)


Would you like extra lard with that?
David A Kessler, author of The End of Overeating, describes how salt, fat and sugar are hidden away in many of our favourite foods, and we’re powerless to resist them. As a result, by 2050 Britain could be a ‘mainly obese society’.
The Guardian magazine (13 March, pp.32 – 36)


Farming today
Fifty per cent of fish eaten in the world are now farmed, up from nine per cent in 1980. Charlotte Smith hears how the UK is cashing in, as Scottish salmon exports grow by a quarter. Nocton Dairies, developers of western Europe's largest dairy farm in Lincolnshire, cancel a public meeting over fears animal rights activists will hijack the event. Nearly a century after the Forestry Commission was established, nearly 80 per cent of wood used in the UK is still imported. Charlotte Smith asks if more could or should be grown on home soil.
BBC Radio 4 (listen again)


And finally… crowd fears bring cheese rolling contest to a standstill
A centuries-old cheese rolling contest at Gloucestershire’s Coopers Hill has fallen victim to health and safety.  Until a few years ago the contest was a small local event but last year it attracted 15,000 spectators and concerns were raised by police and the local authority over traffic and crowd control.
The Times (13 March, p.30)


Quote of the day
“Britain is dotted with opportunities to buy fresh, local, seasonal produce and new places are opening all the time.  Britain’s independent food producers and retailers are entering an exceptional era.”
Rose Prince - The Daily Telegraph Weekend – 13 March 2010