Bees and the Silent Spring

Yesterday's front page in the Independent on the poisoning of bees by neonicotinoids was timely for me as I'm re-reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

While life in the world of pesticides has moved on in the 50 years since Carson's book helped awaken the world ecology, the problems of pesticides keep coming back to haunt us. The saga of colony collapse is the latest in the long line of problems that seem to get ignored by big chemical companies.

It is ridiculous that a quarter of all arable land in the UK was sprayed with this stuff. No wonder the bees are suffering.

Externalising the cost of food

Press release from Keith Taylor below which talks about the externalisation (read exploitation) of the cost of food production. In driving down costs we might end up with fatory farming, using cheap migrant labour or importing food from farms with very poor working practices. Food is not cheap but requires effort - sadly some in our society value X-Factor and mini breaks in Italy above ethical food production. 

GREEN EURO-MP WELCOMES KEY MOVE TO TACKLE SUPERMARKET ABUSES

– MEPs vote for action on price transparency and a fairer deal for farmers

The Green Euro-MP for the South East today welcomed a move by fellow MEPs to tackle the uncompetitive and harmful practices of dominant food retailers which often mean unfair returns for producers – and poor price transparency for consumers (1).

MEPs in Strasbourg approved a report by the French Green MEP José Bové containing ideas on how to rework the food supply chain, in order to improve the position of both producers and citizens throughout the EU. 

Proposals include: legislation to enforce fair competition, with penalties and a complaint mechanism; proposals to limit dominant market positions at all stages of the supply chain; "naming and shaming" companies committing unfair practices; increased price transparency; measures to improve the bargaining positions of farmers, and a new investigation into food wastage.

Keith Taylor MEP, who recently co-chaired his first meeting of the ‘Fair Play: Retailer and the Food Supply Chain’ working group in the Parliament, said:

“This is an important step towards better controls over exploitation in, and by, the retail sector. It will help prevent larger food retailers and processors using their buying-power to bully producers into selling at ‘less than cost’ prices, and will also encourage greater transparency about retailers' profit margins.
 
"For too long, farm gate prices have been driven down, yet those savings rarely get passed on to consumers. There is no such thing as cheap food - either someone else is paying the true cost, or the environment has been degraded to produce it.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/032-81455-249-09-37-904-20100907IPR81454-06-09-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm  

People, Food, Land and Power

The connections between people, food, land and power form the basis of good green philosophy. Climate change is having disasterous effects around the globe, with a phenomenally high number of extreme weather events, none of which in isolation could be blamed on climate change but taken as a whole and in the knowledge that 2010 is the hottest year ever so far, the blame for these events can be laid firmly at the door of climate change. Johann Hari's excellent expose of denialist thinking last month spells this out more clearly than I could possibly do.

Food is one area where climate change will hit. Common Dreams has a useful take on Mozambique and its food riots, from the perspetive of global commodity markets and their impact on hunger for the poorest people:

But to see how climate change will play out in the 21st century, you needn't look to the Met Office. Look, instead, to the deaths and burning tyres in Mozambique's "food riots" to see what happens when extreme natural phenomena interact with our unjust economic systems. The immediate causes of the protests in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, and Chimoio about 500 miles north, are a 30% price increase for bread, compounding a recent double-digit increase for water and energy. When nearly three-quarters of the household budget is spent on food, that's a hike few Mozambicans can afford. Deeper reasons for Mozambique's price hike can be found a continent away. Wheat prices have soared on global markets over the summer in large part because Russia, the world's third largest exporter, has suffered catastrophic fires in its main production areas.

Understanding the relationship between people and their environment is essential in green thinking, but we need to look beyond the immediate environment and consider the wider impacts of politics and economics. Global markets are driving the price of food beyond the reach of the poor while the rich get fatter.

Triple crunch starting to bite

The triple crunch of the economy, climate and resource depletion is starting to kick in.

While the Indy report that food price inflation is set to hit 4% by the end of the year in the UK, in Pakistan food prices have quadrupled in days. The impact of the devastating effect of climate change and commodity prices will be felt everywhere, but especially by the poor.

The only way to solve the triple crunch is through equality, reduced consumption and respect for our planet. Sadly, most political masters across the world can't see this or don't want this.

Fatten them up?

A bizarre statement from Andrew Landsley at the BMA conference today, according to the Guardian: "Lansley cited the introduction of nutritious lunches after the Jamie's School Dinners series in 2005 in a plea for less "lecturing" on lifestyle and more personal responsibility to tackle public health problems such as obesity and smoking."

Since when did campaigning to provide our children with nutritiuos food become nanny stateism? Surely kids should only be provided real food in schools? Is he really suggesting that schools should just provide junk food because it will be popular?

I'm all for taking personal responsibility but part of that is ensuring that the junior members of society are given a good education and a good start in life. Giving them junk food will not do this.

Maidstone's Sainsburys has lost it

Maidstone Sainsburys has lost it. It re-opened today after a refit and after kicking Starbucks out. (Sad to see Starbucks go, not because I like the company, but becasue I know quite a lot of the staff in that branch and they have been solidly supporting the Fairtrade campaign in Maidstone for the past 4 years.)

Walking into the new look store, you are greeted by the obligatory tobacco counter, but this has be repositioned to be far more prominent and the word tobacco above the counter is in yer face. They seem to have expanded the number of junk food isles - I counted 6 all next to each other. Once you have finally got past them, in the far corner is a single isle with cooking ingredients. On the wall by the tills they proudly proclaim: "We've Dumped The Junk". No you bloody well haven't!

Last year they got rid of the pedestrian entrance by the bus station / main part of the town. This has made it harder to use the shop without a car and I'm sure they will have seen a fall in sales to older people.


Fortunately a Co-op is opening in town. It is much smaller and doesn't yet have enough for us but let's hope it gets better.

Houyhnhnms and food miles

Excuse my literary ignorance but having finally started to read a little book from 1725 (yes I should have read Gulliver's Travels 30 years ago, but better late than never). The book was written as a satire on life in England, but some of it is so relevant to today. I wanted to share this exert from A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms:

"Whereupon I enumerated as many sorts [of meat] as came into my head, with the various methods of dressing them, which could not be done without sending vessels by sea to every part of the world, as well for liquors to drink, as for sauces, and innumerable other conveniences. I assured him that this whole globe of earth must be at least three times gone round, before one of our better female Yahoos could get her breakfast or a cup to put it in. He said that must needs be a miserable country which cannot furnish food for its own inhabitants."

So a discussion on food miles from 1725. The text preceding this talks about inequality, the forces of production and the commons of the earth. More from Mr Swift later!

Winter Kentish pineapples

Its complicated! No not my Facebook relationship status but the conclusion by DEFRA that there is more than one factor in the environmental impact of food, especially the concept of promoting local food.

This is from the article in the Independent today:

"Next time they are at the supermarket, green enthusiasts may want to think twice before opting for British strawberries and tomatoes over those grown in Spain. British-grown varieties fare badly compared with Spanish imports in terms of energy use and global-warming potential. Much more energy is needed to heat greenhouses here – not an issue in sunny Spain – so there is a trade-off between the increased use of gas and electricity, and the longer transport distance and greater demands on water in Spain.

"And if transport is taken out of the equation, lamb from New Zealand is a more sustainable choice than that farmed in Britain – with less energy used for farming in a climate where there is less need for feed supplements and heated farm buildings.

"If Britons want to continue to have a choice of food all year round, it may be better to import some staples and avoid the emissions otherwise caused by keeping British produce in chilled storage for long periods, according to researchers."

So DEFRA are saying that if we want strawberries at Christmas then we better buy Spanish ones as the combined energy of their greenhouses and shipping them here will be less than if you grow them in the UK. How exactly is that complicated?

The key of course is seasonal. Of course local food won't have less embodied energy if you are trying to grow Kentish pineapples in winter. My early summer strawberries, grown in the back garden not only have the lowest possible food miles but require no heating at all - and they taste much better than shop bought ones too.