It took tens of thousands of people, dollars and hours to fight back the ambitions of a few agricultural capitalists, but good sense has at least temporarily prevailed here in California. After making their water-tight case for spraying most of Northern California with an untested pesticide to kill a harmless moth, the state government has backed down.

One of the arguments that the spray was safe was that the active ingredient wasn't a straightforward toxin. It was a pheromone, which was meant to pose less of a threat, and able to degrade quickly. The claims of the chemical companies hasn't quite matched the reality, though. ... read more »

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Posted on 30 June, 2008 - 15:28

Credit: Abfab27

There have been a couple of articles in the British press recently, following up on the Competition Commission's report on the anti-competitive practices of UK supermarkets. The response tells a great deal about how supermarkets have managed to wiggle their way into our lives, and made themselves indispensable. ... read more »

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Posted on 17 February, 2008 - 17:54

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) have come out with some useful research on the nation’s health, and food poverty. The message from the media seems to be this: ‘the poor don’t have it as bad as we thought’.

To some extent this is a welcome message – it goes some way to countering the national sport, as British as cricket, of heaping contempt on poor people (though I suspect that it’ll take a little more than this report to make the practice disappear completely).

... read more »

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Posted on 17 July, 2007 - 18:39

The Scottish Association of Farmers Markets has an utterly charming site, with information on farmers markets, news of farmers' triumphs, and a warm home-town feel. And that's just the site. Use the map on this page to find out about the different markets.

And then enjoy the rest of the site at http://www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk/

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Posted on 12 December, 2006 - 06:07

The UK's National Farmers' Retail and Markets Association has a range of resources at their website, linking not just to farmers markets, but to pick-your-own farms and farm shops. They have at their site a number of helpful resources, including this fine clickable map. ... read more »

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Posted on 12 December, 2006 - 05:48

The New Economics Foundation is

an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being.

They've got some great analysis about the negative impact of supermarkets in Britain and, more importantly, some fine research on why local markets are better for the economy, have more choice, and are more racially diverse.

More at
http://www.neweconomics.org/

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Posted on 1 December, 2006 - 10:14

The Guardian carries a story on the attempts by the British telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, to ban the advertising of junk food to children. How do they administer the ban?

if the proportion of the audience under 16 is more than 20% higher than the proportion of under-16s in the UK population as a whole, the programme is defined as one which attracts a significantly higher than average proportion of viewers in that age group.

And for such programmes, the advertising of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) is prohibited. It's a smart move. For every $1 spent on promoting healthy food, $500 is spent on junk food - and the desirability of junk food explains, in no small part, the increasing rates of childhood obesity, as Marion Nestle has argued in the New England Journal of Medicine. ... read more »

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Posted on 28 November, 2006 - 05:52