Organic news archive: November 2005
Supermarkets are twice as likely to promote junk food in stores as they are fresh fruit and vegetables, despite the obesity crisis in the UK. A survey by the National Consumer Council (NCC) found that, with the exception of Marks & Spencer, the leading supermarket chains were offering double the number of deals on "fatty and sugary" foods than they were on fresh produce. The picture was even worse at Walmart-owned supermarket Morrisons, which had more than three times as many promotions for sweet and fatty food as for fruit and vegetables - 29 per cent to 9 per cent. At Somerfield the difference was four times as great - 31 per cent to 7 per cent. (Daily Telegraph; The Independent; The Times - 25/11/05)
A fierce supermarket price war will slash £1.7 billion off grocery bills in the UK next year, according to research firm Verdict. The major chains are set to launch a wave of heavy discounting as they try to beat their rivals in the cut-throat market - food and grocery prices will fall 0.6 per cent next year as a result of the deals. It means the cost of the average shopping bill is now two per cent cheaper than it was three years ago. Which sounds fantastic until you take into account that the average hourly rate of pay for British farmers is below the minimum wage. (Daily Express - 25/11/05)
Global warming is doubling the rate of sea level rise around the world, but attempts to stop it by cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be futile, leading researchers will warn today. The oceans will rise nearly half a metre by the end of the century, forcing coastlines back by hundreds of metres, the US researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey claim. Scientists believe the acceleration is caused mainly by the surge in greenhouse gas emissions produced by the development of industry and introduction of fossil fuel burning. The rising tide is expected to make oceans 40cm higher by 2100. (The Guardian; The Times - 25/11/05)
The healing power of dolphins has been widely promoted, but in the first controlled trial researchers have shown that an hour a day in the water with the sociable aquatic creatures is an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression, and better than swimming with other humans. Psychiatrists from the University of Leicester compared two groups of patients with depression, half of whom swam and snorkelled with dolphins while the other half spent the same time snorkelling with each other on a coral reef in the absence of the dolphins. After two weeks, results showed the group who had swum with the dolphins had improved significantly more than the control group. Three months after the study, participants reported lasting improvement in their symptoms which did not need treatment. The finding confirms the importance of biophilia, the recognition that human health and wellbeing are dependent on our relationships with the environment, they say. The study is in the British Medical Journal, which has a themed issue on human and animal health. And restoring health through contact with nature, known as ecotherapy, may involve working with wildlife, on conservation projects or in a garden, according to another paper in the BMJ. (The Independent - 25/11/05)
Bernard Jarman, of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association, writes: "Many of the things which organic and biodynamic agriculture are suggesting used to be carried out as a matter of course. What the biodynamic approach can offer is an opportunity to think about not only the physical-chemical processes of the soil but also the life and spiritual aspects which stand behind them." (Farmers' Weekly News)
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and the pioneering 'dinner lady' and Soil Association school meals policy adviser, Jeanette Orrey, presented the Soil Association's new School Food Awards at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham on Thursday 24 November.
The four winners of the Soil Association School Food Awards 2005 are:
- Soil Association Food for Life School of the Year Award (£2,500 of school kitchen equipment)
Hurlford Primary School, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
- The Times Body & Soul Food Education Award (£1,250 of school kitchen equipment)
Thomas Fairchild Community School, London
- Highland Spring School Dinner Award - two joint winners (£1,250 of school kitchen equipment each, plus a term's supply of water for pupils)
Landscove C of E Primary School, Newton Abbott, Devon
Lethbridge Primary School, Swindon
"There are lots of winners in the Soil Association School Food Awards - the schools which serve healthy, tasty meals, the local and organic producers who provide the ingredients, and above all the kids who are going to grow up knowing what good food is and where it comes from," says Jamie Oliver.
Jeanette Orrey says, "The quality of entries was even better than for last year's inaugural school dinners award, showing that the Soil Association's Food for Life project is really making a difference. It makes me proud to see so many schools doing such great work, but there's still a long way to go! I'd like to see all schools in Britain have meals like these in 5 years time."
The winning schools also received trophies designed and kindly donated by Bristol Blue Glass, and an electric pasta cooker worth £2500 generously donated by Hobart UK, manufacturers and suppliers of catering equipment to schools across the UK.
"For every 10 carrots grown, seven are rejected by supermarkets simply for being the wrong size or shape, so they are dumped. If the grower has animals to feed them to at least they get used, but many must just be left to rot or are ploughed back into the fields without ever being harvested. As if this level of waste was not disgusting enough, apparently we throw away 30-40 per cent of the food we buy. Food waste makes up roughly one-third of all household waste. Some 17m tonnes of this total waste goes to landfill - even though at least a quarter of it is by any standards perfectly edible. Of course not just the actual food - estimated to have a retail value of around £20bn - is wasted, but a vast amount of energy, time and human resources to grow, harvest, package, transport and then ultimately dump it, too. At every level - moral, environmental, social and practical - it is ragingly obscene. The buck, of course, stops with us. It is yours and my fault and only we can do something about it." (Monty Don in The Observer - 20/11/05)
This week's Savvy Shopper column in the Daily Telegraph is on how to buy potatoes. Rose Prince writes, "there is a trend with organic farmers to grow many more varieties and among them are potatoes with incredible flavour. Organic growers have found that growing a greater variety prevents the spread of disease." Prince says we should worry about pesticides. In 2003, the Government tested 144 samples, finding detectable levels of aldicarb, a nerve poison, on two per cent. Seventy-three 'maincrop' potatoes were tested between July and December 2004 for 23 residues. Eighteen out of the 73 contained residues of aldicarb, chlopropham and maleic hydrazide, a plant growth regulator that prevents sprouting. No residues exceeded the government-decreed 'safe levels'. (19/11/05)
A ten-year research project to develop a genetically modified pea by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has been scrapped after it was found to trigger allergic reactions when fed to mice. Critics claim the development is a serious blow to supporters of genetic modification as it shows the technology can have unexpected and harmful results. (Daily Mail - 19/11/05)
In an 'FT Preview' of the week ahead, on Sunday 27, "Swiss voters go to the polls in a referendum that, if passed, would impose one of the strictest bans in Europe on the use of genetically modified organisms. The proposal by GMO opponents would impose a five-year moratorium on the cultivation of genetically altered plants and the import of genetically modified animals. But GMO research, including for pharmaceuticals, would still be allowed". (The Financial Times - 21/11/05)
Clothes made with Fairtrade cotton could soon be sold in UK high-street stores following the product's British launch. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, cotton could soon match the success of ethically traded coffee and tea. The group is in talks with retailers which it hopes will stock Fairtrade goods. Ten have already signed up. T-shirts, jeans and cotton wool are among the items available for sale. (Daily Telegraph; Independent - 18/11/05)
Tesco has banned all artificial ingredients from its own range of 450 ready-meals. Suppliers have been told that they must use traditional cooking techniques and cut out additives such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and hydrogenated fats that are commonly used by many food manufacturers. Earlier this year Marks & Spencer became the first High Street name to ban hydrogenated fats and artificial additives from ready meals. Tesco's additive-free ready meals are being rolled out before February. (Daily Mail; Times; Guardian; Mirror - 18/11/05)
This has been a catastrophic year for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. The enormous fish, which provides the key ingredient for sushi, Japan's unofficial national dish, is being caught in such vast numbers that scientists fear its commercial extinction is looming. (The Independent - 18/11/05)
Supermarkets are losing their grip on the organics market, figures from the Soil Association's latest annual report show. Total organic sales are growing by £2.3 million a week. Helen Browning, director of food and farming for the organisation, said growth in organic sales had not been matched by farm incomes. "The retailers are very lazy to market on price alone. Squeeze farmers too tight and they will start cutting corners like everyone else, and then the food scares begin to appear." She cited Sainsbury's recent relaunch of its SO organic range as a lesson to other retailers, after sales increased dramatically. "It shows what you can do when you get the marketin
Supermarkets are twice as likely to promote junk food in stores as they are fresh fruit and vegetables, despite the obesity crisis in the UK. A survey by the National Consumer Council (NCC) found that, with the exception of Marks & Spencer, the leading supermarket chains were offering double the number of deals on "fatty and sugary" foods than they were on fresh produce. The picture was even worse at Walmart-owned supermarket Morrisons, which had more than three times as many promotions for sweet and fatty food as for fruit and vegetables - 29 per cent to 9 per cent. At Somerfield the difference was four times as great - 31 per cent to 7 per cent. (Daily Telegraph; The Independent; The Times - 25/11/05)
A fierce supermarket price war will slash £1.7 billion off grocery bills in the UK next year, according to research firm Verdict. The major chains are set to launch a wave of heavy discounting as they try to beat their rivals in the cut-throat market - food and grocery prices will fall 0.6 per cent next year as a result of the deals. It means the cost of the average shopping bill is now two per cent cheaper than it was three years ago. Which sounds fantastic until you take into account that the average hourly rate of pay for British farmers is below the minimum wage. (Daily Express - 25/11/05)
Global warming is doubling the rate of sea level rise around the world, but attempts to stop it by cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be futile, leading researchers will warn today. The oceans will rise nearly half a metre by the end of the century, forcing coastlines back by hundreds of metres, the US researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey claim. Scientists believe the acceleration is caused mainly by the surge in greenhouse gas emissions produced by the development of industry and introduction of fossil fuel burning. The rising tide is expected to make oceans 40cm higher by 2100. (The Guardian; The Times - 25/11/05)
The healing power of dolphins has been widely promoted, but in the first controlled trial researchers have shown that an hour a day in the water with the sociable aquatic creatures is an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression, and better than swimming with other humans. Psychiatrists from the University of Leicester compared two groups of patients with depression, half of whom swam and snorkelled with dolphins while the other half spent the same time snorkelling with each other on a coral reef in the absence of the dolphins. After two weeks, results showed the group who had swum with the dolphins had improved significantly more than the control group. Three months after the study, participants reported lasting improvement in their symptoms which did not need treatment. The finding confirms the importance of biophilia, the recognition that human health and wellbeing are dependent on our relationships with the environment, they say. The study is in the British Medical Journal, which has a themed issue on human and animal health. And restoring health through contact with nature, known as ecotherapy, may involve working with wildlife, on conservation projects or in a garden, according to another paper in the BMJ. (The Independent - 25/11/05)
Bernard Jarman, of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association, writes: "Many of the things which organic and biodynamic agriculture are suggesting used to be carried out as a matter of course. What the biodynamic approach can offer is an opportunity to think about not only the physical-chemical processes of the soil but also the life and spiritual aspects which stand behind them." (Farmers' Weekly News)
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and the pioneering 'dinner lady' and Soil Association school meals policy adviser, Jeanette Orrey, presented the Soil Association's new School Food Awards at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham on Thursday 24 November.
The four winners of the Soil Association School Food Awards 2005 are:
- Soil Association Food for Life School of the Year Award (£2,500 of school kitchen equipment)
Hurlford Primary School, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire - The Times Body & Soul Food Education Award (£1,250 of school kitchen equipment)
Thomas Fairchild Community School, London - Highland Spring School Dinner Award - two joint winners (£1,250 of school kitchen equipment each, plus a term's supply of water for pupils)
Landscove C of E Primary School, Newton Abbott, Devon
Lethbridge Primary School, Swindon
"There are lots of winners in the Soil Association School Food Awards - the schools which serve healthy, tasty meals, the local and organic producers who provide the ingredients, and above all the kids who are going to grow up knowing what good food is and where it comes from," says Jamie Oliver.
Jeanette Orrey says, "The quality of entries was even better than for last year's inaugural school dinners award, showing that the Soil Association's Food for Life project is really making a difference. It makes me proud to see so many schools doing such great work, but there's still a long way to go! I'd like to see all schools in Britain have meals like these in 5 years time."
The winning schools also received trophies designed and kindly donated by Bristol Blue Glass, and an electric pasta cooker worth £2500 generously donated by Hobart UK, manufacturers and suppliers of catering equipment to schools across the UK.
"For every 10 carrots grown, seven are rejected by supermarkets simply for being the wrong size or shape, so they are dumped. If the grower has animals to feed them to at least they get used, but many must just be left to rot or are ploughed back into the fields without ever being harvested. As if this level of waste was not disgusting enough, apparently we throw away 30-40 per cent of the food we buy. Food waste makes up roughly one-third of all household waste. Some 17m tonnes of this total waste goes to landfill - even though at least a quarter of it is by any standards perfectly edible. Of course not just the actual food - estimated to have a retail value of around £20bn - is wasted, but a vast amount of energy, time and human resources to grow, harvest, package, transport and then ultimately dump it, too. At every level - moral, environmental, social and practical - it is ragingly obscene. The buck, of course, stops with us. It is yours and my fault and only we can do something about it." (Monty Don in The Observer - 20/11/05)
This week's Savvy Shopper column in the Daily Telegraph is on how to buy potatoes. Rose Prince writes, "there is a trend with organic farmers to grow many more varieties and among them are potatoes with incredible flavour. Organic growers have found that growing a greater variety prevents the spread of disease." Prince says we should worry about pesticides. In 2003, the Government tested 144 samples, finding detectable levels of aldicarb, a nerve poison, on two per cent. Seventy-three 'maincrop' potatoes were tested between July and December 2004 for 23 residues. Eighteen out of the 73 contained residues of aldicarb, chlopropham and maleic hydrazide, a plant growth regulator that prevents sprouting. No residues exceeded the government-decreed 'safe levels'. (19/11/05)
A ten-year research project to develop a genetically modified pea by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has been scrapped after it was found to trigger allergic reactions when fed to mice. Critics claim the development is a serious blow to supporters of genetic modification as it shows the technology can have unexpected and harmful results. (Daily Mail - 19/11/05)
In an 'FT Preview' of the week ahead, on Sunday 27, "Swiss voters go to the polls in a referendum that, if passed, would impose one of the strictest bans in Europe on the use of genetically modified organisms. The proposal by GMO opponents would impose a five-year moratorium on the cultivation of genetically altered plants and the import of genetically modified animals. But GMO research, including for pharmaceuticals, would still be allowed". (The Financial Times - 21/11/05)
Clothes made with Fairtrade cotton could soon be sold in UK high-street stores following the product's British launch. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, cotton could soon match the success of ethically traded coffee and tea. The group is in talks with retailers which it hopes will stock Fairtrade goods. Ten have already signed up. T-shirts, jeans and cotton wool are among the items available for sale. (Daily Telegraph; Independent - 18/11/05)
Tesco has banned all artificial ingredients from its own range of 450 ready-meals. Suppliers have been told that they must use traditional cooking techniques and cut out additives such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and hydrogenated fats that are commonly used by many food manufacturers. Earlier this year Marks & Spencer became the first High Street name to ban hydrogenated fats and artificial additives from ready meals. Tesco's additive-free ready meals are being rolled out before February. (Daily Mail; Times; Guardian; Mirror - 18/11/05)
This has been a catastrophic year for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. The enormous fish, which provides the key ingredient for sushi, Japan's unofficial national dish, is being caught in such vast numbers that scientists fear its commercial extinction is looming. (The Independent - 18/11/05)
Supermarkets are losing their grip on the organics market, figures from the Soil Association's latest annual report show. Total organic sales are growing by £2.3 million a week. Helen Browning, director of food and farming for the organisation, said growth in organic sales had not been matched by farm incomes. "The retailers are very lazy to market on price alone. Squeeze farmers too tight and they will start cutting corners like everyone else, and then the food scares begin to appear." She cited Sainsbury's recent relaunch of its SO organic range as a lesson to other retailers, after sales increased dramatically. "It shows what you can do when you get the marketin