Who will speak out for you?

The quality of thought behind comments made on the Wisbech Discussion Forum hit a new low yesterday.

Food Quality

Does food quality matter to you? What do we mean when we say that children have 'enough to eat'? If they are eating industrially produced food can we be sure that everything nature intended is within the food on the plate?

I first realised how nutritionally barren many modern foodstuffs were while undertaking an audit in Newmarket around 40 years ago and I chanced upon a book written by Lawrence D. Hills. I can remember taking the book back to my hotel and staying up much too late reading. Lawrence D. Hills was the founder of the Henry Doubleday organic research institute and his work influenced the direction my life took. I decided then to become self-sufficient, to buy some agricultural land and take control.

The single most memorable, and at the time startling fact was that blackcurrants bred for maximum yield, ripening period and toughness for transport, had very few of the vitamins and minerals found in the traditional varieties.  Those berries are what we might call commercial or industrial fruits and they are all that will be available to buy in shops whether fresh or processed.

I’ve read much more since then, attended agricultural college, many courses and seminars on plant breeding, crop and soil management, and animal husbandry. My path eventually led me to discover Permaculture, a way of living, a ‘system’ devised by Tasmanians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Later Joel Salatin of PolyfaceFarm, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of RiverCottage  also offered many valuable lessons, and provided reassurance that living the ‘Good Life’ was not just something to be laughed at  

This morning BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today  caught up with Lawrence D.Hills idea. 

Could it be possible that the many new health and behavioural problems we are experiencing today arise due to the quality of our food reducing?

Sustainable Education or a Cynical Support for the Market?

Using the planet’s resources to create items that are inevitably destined for recycling or landfill - should we support this?

A worldwide initiative to boost the consumer behaviour of children has launched. This is an attempt to stem the perceived drift away from dependency on manufactured and processed goods that is developing in young people. This is causing controversy. 

The UN has acknowledged the actions of the young are an important factor in how society faces up to the challenges our planet faces.

“Young people are key actors in raising awareness, running educational programmes, promoting sustainable lifestyles,  conserving nature, supporting renewable energy, adopting environmentally-friendly practices and implementing adaptation and mitigation projects. [UNFCCC]

Youth constitute the majority of the population in many countries and have an increasingly strong social and environmental awareness, which has the power to transform our societies towards a low-carbon and climate resilient future. [United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change, 2010, http://bit.ly/1FBQsfy]”

Market makers are worried that the youngest members of society might be significantly influenced by their peers and siblings.  

We could be witnessing the emergence of a post-consumerism society. A society where the natural world gains our respect and the fragility of eco-systems are recognised. This will dramatically change our relationship with the economy. The economy has been placed ahead of society and the environment for many decades.

Some parents have recognised the mixed message from the retail giants - who claim to be caring for the planet by recycling a plastic wrapper while extruding plastic trinkets to boost their sales and capture the young as their future consumers.

Retailers swipe back by claiming that the plastics they are producing are educational, can be recycled and that sustainability is a top priority for them.

What do you think?

Can it ever be justified to use finite resources for the production of plastic toys to educate children to shop in this manner?

Will every parent recycle responsibly?

What is Anti-social Behaviour ?

The posts on the Wisbech Discussion Forum amaze me at times. Such a rich source of research material for a social scientist, but it does depress me that there is so much racism, “... we brought people here...” “... people were allowed in...” and similar phrases are regularly used to imply that anti social activities in the town can be attributed to foreigners. Our councillors will be discussing anti social behaviour and it is to be hoped that they will begin by clearly defining what is considered to be anti social behaviour.