Just on the cusp of the New Year I think there’s still time for some seasonal stories – and fortunately they seem to be good news:
A couple of items in Meat Trades Journal caught the eye. Firstly it seems that while Waitrose sent £10 vouchers to customers likely to be disappointed when the store’s turkey suppliers were hit by AI, 80% of those customers (1,000 people) returned them requesting that they be passed on to the farmers affected. Wow! That’s kind of mind-blowing and suggests that shoppers (at least those of the Waitrose variety) haven’t entirely lost touch with, or sympathy for, the farming community. Fingers crossed the ten grand makes it to Gressingham Foods nice and early in 2008…
Also noteworthy on the turkey theme is the MTJ’s reported fact that Marks & Sparks shifted 40% more organic turkeys this year compared to last. That doesn’t tell us anything about the actual figures (or, actually, even whether M&S offered organic turkeys last year!) but it sounds like the kind of healthy growth we want to see.
So that’s us signing-off for 2007. Happy New Year from all at OF&G.
Maybe it’s a bit of a Scrooge-like attitude to have, but don’t some aspects of Christmas seem to have a bit of an environmentally unsound tinge these days?
We’re all very conscious of climate change and of the fact that we’re roaring through resources which are finite to the planet. So it seems pretty wasteful to be sending many millions of Christmas cards which the recipients will look at once, say “ah, thanks” and then shove on a desk or shelf until it’s time to bin them in the New Year.
The good news is that more of us recycle now, so more of those envelopes and cards will go into recycling bins along with some wrapping paper and over-the-top gift packaging. But the fact is we’ve used no end of power, trees, ink, sticky tape and more to produce them, not to mention shipping them around the world (or at least from China…) and driving them around this country.
Tonnes and tonnes of food is wasted in this country each Christmas, even after we’ve gorged to excess. And don’t get me started on the OTT lightshows on homes that seem to be spreading faster than bluetongue!
There are some interesting Christmas-related facts and figures collated by Wiltshire teacher “Mr O’Callaghan” on his blog that make for thought-provoking reading.
It’s still a great time of year; a chance to sit down with family and (at least for many) some deserved extra time off work, but in these days when we’re supposed to be conscious of waste and mindful of reducing our consumption, couldn’t Christmas do with an eco-makeover too..?
Funny how things come full circle. The use of wind power for ships could be making a comeback if the maiden voyage of a new cargo vessel goes well.
The Beluga Skysails is setting off across the Atlantic with a giant high-tech kite attached. The theory, which seems eminently sound, is that the kite can be deployed to harness the stable winds high up and pull the ship along – saving on the amount of power needed by the engines and therefore cutting emissions.
The kite is computer controlled and can run on rails around the ship to ensure optimum use of the wind.
You can’t help but feel that this has a lot in common with organic farming; using what we’ve got in nature for everyone’s benefit while cutting back on the artificial and harmful. Fingers crossed for a successful voyage and wide deployment of the Skysail…
Find out more at the Skysails site
or
Read the story from The Times
So widespread is the use of genetically modified soya and corn in the US, it’s becoming nigh-on impossible to avoid the stuff unless you buy organic (and it’s getting harder for the organic food producers to find non-GM supplies).
Given this wholesale adoption of GM over the pond, it’s somewhat surprising to learn that a couple of US Senators have managed to put the brakes on the latest emerging abhorrence ‘Frankenmeat’ – or the use of cloned animals for food.
The situation seems to be summed up nicely in this report from thedailygreen.com:
Senate Says No to Frankenmeat (and Frankenmilk)
It may only be a delay for now, but if nothing else it should open up the debate, rather than have GM meat sneaking in through the back door.
I feel another heated debate (and costly lobbying on all sides) coming on…
