pandop
22nd May 2004, 9:41
I am currently reading Not on the Label by Felicity Lawrence, a Guardian journalist, who has a real bee in her bonnet about the way our food is produced (review to follow) most of what she says is OK, but I got really annoyed this morning whe she was talking about in-season vegetables.
When I published a plea in The Guardian to buy more local food in season, I recieved a deluge of mail from people saying the no longer knew the seasons and needed a guide. I realized I needed one too, and rang round various farming and food experts, only to find they were pretty vague on the subject too
This really irritated me for two reasons:
1: I agree with her, a lot of people (especially I must say city dwellers) no longer know the seasons for food - or even where their food comes from - and this is bad thing.
However, this was nothing compared to 2:This woman is a journalist - and the only people she could think of to contact about growing seasons were food manufacturers and farming 'experts' (whe she has spent all of the book so far complaining that farming is too industrialised - of course that may be the point).
Could she not turn to the BBC? www.bbc.co.uk/gardening is a wonderous thing - as is the book I picked up for £2.99 in Discount Books in Leeds The Seasonal Kitchen Gardener
<shaking head in bewilderment>
I do think this is a symptom of something bigger - we are becoming increasingly removed from the world that supports us. I think this is a combined efforts of the supermarkets and the government, who between them are removing our ability to think!
An example of this is the recent pronouncement of Harriet Harmen, Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Hodge (here I agree with Lynda Lee Potter of the Daily Mail - why is this woman Minister for Children?) who said that women weren't interested in the War in Iraq, or the economy, but were only interested in schools and hospitals! Just what do they think pays for the schools and hospitals - it's the economy stupid!! I felt incredibly insulted when I read that ..... or perhaps my little girly brain didn't really understand them :evil:
Hazel
(who is not in a good mood this morning)
When I published a plea in The Guardian to buy more local food in season, I recieved a deluge of mail from people saying the no longer knew the seasons and needed a guide. I realized I needed one too, and rang round various farming and food experts, only to find they were pretty vague on the subject too
This really irritated me for two reasons:
1: I agree with her, a lot of people (especially I must say city dwellers) no longer know the seasons for food - or even where their food comes from - and this is bad thing.
However, this was nothing compared to 2:This woman is a journalist - and the only people she could think of to contact about growing seasons were food manufacturers and farming 'experts' (whe she has spent all of the book so far complaining that farming is too industrialised - of course that may be the point).
Could she not turn to the BBC? www.bbc.co.uk/gardening is a wonderous thing - as is the book I picked up for £2.99 in Discount Books in Leeds The Seasonal Kitchen Gardener
<shaking head in bewilderment>
I do think this is a symptom of something bigger - we are becoming increasingly removed from the world that supports us. I think this is a combined efforts of the supermarkets and the government, who between them are removing our ability to think!
An example of this is the recent pronouncement of Harriet Harmen, Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Hodge (here I agree with Lynda Lee Potter of the Daily Mail - why is this woman Minister for Children?) who said that women weren't interested in the War in Iraq, or the economy, but were only interested in schools and hospitals! Just what do they think pays for the schools and hospitals - it's the economy stupid!! I felt incredibly insulted when I read that ..... or perhaps my little girly brain didn't really understand them :evil:
Hazel
(who is not in a good mood this morning)