The Fife Diet was delighted to take part in Burntisland Civic Week parade last weekend and publicise our new plans for allotments and community gardens. We have also been working with the Sustainable Communities Initiative from Kinghorn who are launching their two year climate change programme Saturday at the Ramblers Rest cafe in Burntisland High St with a Big Swap 1pm – 4pm Sat 27th June.
Burntisland Civic Week
Posted in Events with tags Burntisland, SCI on June 26, 2009 by fifedietRocket Garden
Posted in Gardening with tags Gardening, Organic Gardening on June 23, 2009 by fifediet
I’m sure for experienced gardeners the idea of Rocket Gardens is a crazy, but for lots of people starting up (and there are lots of people starting up), it’s a pretty good deal. Rocket Gardens sends you a starter pack with the line: “70% of food miles are created by the consumer driving out to buy food. Why not grow and pick some from your own garden?” The aim of Rocket Gardens is to simplify the process of growing your own organic vegetables and make the idea of a home kitchen garden a reality. We have lots of people contact us saying they had tried so we have given it ago too. I like it. Rocket Garden says: “How can the enormous benefits of growing your own veg become a reality for a far greater percentage of the UK’s population?”
What do you think?
Food Inc
Posted in Film on June 15, 2009 by fifediet“We have the perfect pork chop, insecticide- resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.” What’s gone wrong with food in America, and is the same true here? Watch the Food Inc trailer here…
Ed Miliband v Pete Postlethwaite
Posted in Action on Climate Change on June 10, 2009 by fifedietThis from the RSA & Ecology site. Sorry it’s a bit old but I only just saw it. Thanks to Aislinn:
Be Seasonable
Posted in Seasonable Eating with tags Eat Seasonably on June 3, 2009 by fifediet
This all sounds reasonable, of course the problem is when you look at what is actually happening.
Eat Seasonably writes: “”We’ve launched a nationwide campaign to help you enjoy fruit and veg at its seasonal best. Eat Seasonably is backed by major supermarkets and small market stall-holders alike, as well as cafes, pubs, restaurants and some of the nation’s favourite charities. Top chefs and leading food organisations are also on board.”
It will be interesting what ‘major supermarkets’ ACTUALLY do. It would be great for this to be a success but often there’s a lot of hype and very little action. We are still awash with imports and still addicted to a completely non-seasonal menu/shopping experience. Evidence of actual seasonality by photo or email welcome to fifediet@yahoo.co.uk Is your supermarket providing you with local seasonal food?
Incredible Edible
Posted in Action on Climate Change, Sustainability with tags Incredible Edible Huddersfield on June 3, 2009 by fifedietThere’s not a day goes by now when you don’t uncover some new great local food project. This one from Huddersfield features a great seasonal food calendar.
“We in the more privileged nations have become so divorced from food production that it is difficult to remember that vegetables and fruits have a season, and outside of that season they are not available. When you can buy perfect looking strawberries for Christmas lunch it is hard to remember that in Britain this fruit is really not ready for picking until May at the very earliest and by the beginning of October will be finished for the year. Vegetables – and fruit even more so – taste better and have more of the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need for health if they are picked when they are ready to be picked and eaten as soon afterwards as possible.”
Mass Lobby
Posted in Action on Climate Change with tags Stop Climate Chaos on May 30, 2009 by fifedietThis message in from Stop Climate Chaos Scotland: Book the date! Mass lobby at the Scottish Parliament, 24 June
“Wherever you live in Scotland, join our mass lobby in the Scottish Parliament, taking place during the final hours before the fate of the Scottish Climate Change Bill is sealed. Organised through Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the coalition organisation WWF belongs to, this will be your very last chance to lobby your MSP directly to get the best climate change legislation in the world.
Stop Climate Chaos (SCC) will provide a fact-sheet before the event, as well as a verbal briefing on the day. Travel expenses are available on request. “
Sustainable Communities
Posted in Events with tags Burntisland, Sustainable Comunities Initiative on May 26, 2009 by fifedietThe Fife Diet was delighted to work with the Sustainable Communities Initiative last week in Burntisland School as part of their Green Living on a Budget course. The children of the school from P.4 & 5 presented their vision of the world in 40 years time and challenged the mums and adds in the room to help make the change needed now for our sustainable future. It was a packed hall with a great turnout and an inspiring day. Thanks to all the children involved, and to Paula, Donna and Caireen from SCI too. For our part – our friend Meg baked oat biscuits and raspberry cakes with flour from East Lothian (our nearest currently available until Falkland Flour kicks in), and we served Cuban Orange Juice from Fair Shares, Burntisland.
The Ministry of Rice
Posted in GM, Global Food Culture on May 23, 2009 by fifediet
Greenpeace’s argument is simple, clear and wonderfully conveyed by one of the best subverts I’ve seen in ages…
“Rice is daily food for half of the world’s population. Genetically modified (GM) rice, on the other hand, is a threat to our agriculture, our biodiversity and a possible risk to our health. GM rice is not grown commercially anywhere in the world. But the German chemical giant Bayer, has genetically manipulated rice to withstand higher doses of a toxic pesticide called glufosinate, which is considered to be so dangerous to humans and the environment that it will soon be banned from Europe. In just a few weeks, the European Union will decide whether or not this GM rice can enter EU countries, appear on supermarket shelves and end up on our dinner plates.”
FOE Fix the Food Chain
Posted in Action on Climate Change with tags Fix the Food Chain, FOE on May 17, 2009 by fifedietThis is a bit anglocentric – and in places simplistic – but still very good…
Growing Communities
Posted in Action on Climate Change with tags Growing Communities on May 15, 2009 by fifedietWe’ve been inspired by many projects, but none more so than Growing Communities in Hackney, London. They defy the myth that local food is not achievable in urban settings, or that efforts like these can’t be financially viable. Their Food Zones model (below) is something we’d like to emulate in communities Scotland with its emphasis on 80-20 local food targets. You can read more about the projects founder, Julie Brown here.
A Well Travelled Sunday Lunch
Posted in Action on Climate Change on May 12, 2009 by fifedietThis from Gooshing. The well-travelled Sunday lunch…
Chicken from Thailand 10,691 miles by ship
Runner beans from Zambia 4,912 miles by plane
Carrots from Spain 1,000 miles by lorry
Mange Tout from Zimbabwe 5,130 miles by plane
Potatoes from Italy 1,521 miles by lorry
Sprouts from Britain 125 miles by lorry
Total 26,234 miles
If you choose products that are in season and purchase them locally, you could reduce the total journey from 26,234 to just 376 miles!
Frankenfood Ban Is ‘Neither Populism nor Panic-Mongering’ .
Posted in GM on May 11, 2009 by fifediet
This from Spiegel International: “A German ban on genetically modified corn has found broad support in the German public, and protests against a patent on a strain of pig made headlines on Wednesday. German commentators wonder if this is just European technophobia or whether genes are a natural resource which no patent should restrain.
It’s been a tough week in Germany for proponents of genetically engineered farm products. First Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced a ban on cultivating a strain of genetically modified (GM) corn. Then on Wednesday, demonstrations were held in the Bavarian capital of Munich and the Hessian capital of Wiesbaden against a patent on a breed of pig.” Read the full article here, and this video on The World According to Monsanto is good to.
Capitalist Pigs
Posted in Global Food Culture on May 9, 2009 by fifedietSo this week all is well. Like Fred the Shred, Mexico has become the lightning rod for blame over the swine flu (non?) pandemic. It’s as if the failure of the two systems – one food, one financial – can be reduced to individual failure, be it one rotten pig farm, or one rotten fat-cat. Of course such a view helps us move swiftly away from the terrible thought that the problem is systemic.
That’s certainly what Felicity Lawrence seems to be driving at when she writes: “In modern disaster management theory, when any large system experiences a major shock or failure, you assess the risk, activate an ordered emergency response, and manage the after-effects. In the world of real people hit directly by the real shock, you look for someone to blame.” More here.
