Our Daily Bread is a film about the modern food industry that’s been described as “The 2001: A Space Odyssey of modern food production”, despite its direct depiction of the truth behind the food we eat.
Shot without any commentary, director Nikolaus Geyrhalter told the Guardian he simply wanted his audience to reflect on the complicated truth behind our food. Following screenings at select cinemas since its UK release in January, the film is due to be shown on More4 at 10pm on Tuesday 29th April. (And should be available to watch online over the following week.)
Early reporting on today’s long awaited publication of the provisional findings of the Competition Commission’s 17-month (and counting) investigation into the groceries market gave the impression that the Commission (CC) had given the major mulitiple retailers a clean bill. “Competition inquiry to reprieve supermarkets” pronounced the FT.
There is real criticism of supermarket practices in the CC’s provisional findings, with suggested remedies that might just tackle some of the problems. But the CC also suggests changes to the planning system which would be nothing less than a bonanza for the larger retailers and spell further disaster for town centres and the small independent operators.
Uncompetitive Features
Read the report and you’ll find the CC stating clearly that “there is an adverse effect on competition”, identifying a number of uncompetitive “features” (a sanitised expression for damaging practices) of the market:
“A significant number of local markets have high levels of concentration, and these high levels of concentration have persisted over a number of years” ie there are“Tesco Towns” (and Sainsbury suburbs etc) whose inhabitants suffer from a lack of choice of food shops
“The control of land in highly-concentrated local markets by incumbent retailers acts as a barrier to entry” ie the supermarkets are in possession of landbanks that restrict the development of competing stores
“the exercise of buyer power [...] through the adoption of supply chain practices that transfer excessive risks and unexpected costs to [...] suppliers [...] prevents, restricts or distorts competition”
ie the supermarkets do treat some of their suppliers unfairly
These are strong criticisms and bear out accusations that the supermarkets have repeatedly denied. Continue Reading »
Just when it all seemed to be mercifully over, foot and mouth disease has returned in the UK.
The government had declared August’s outbreak over, the restrictions on livestock movements were lifted, farming and the meat industry were getting back to normal business at a busy time of year, the reports on August’s outbreak had been even published. Now all the fear and uncertainty is back.
Debate about whether it’s time to vaccinate is intensifying. Many consider vaccination long overdue and point to the new outbreak as tragic evidence. The case is presented convincingly at Warmwell, where it’s also reported that the government is considering vaccination.
Defra, for the time being at least, remains opposed to vaccination on the grounds of the risk of spread of the disease and the impact on trade in meat, though they have ordered 300,000 doses.
Keeping up with foot and mouth developments
Warmwell remains the best source of in-depth discussion and examination of foot and mouth disease, the arguments for vaccination, the impact on farmers and more.
Defra has a page on the latest situation, with links to detailed pages on the restrictions etc.
The Guardian’s Newsblog has regularly updated postings of events as they happen(ed) and views as they’re aired on the 13th September, 12th September. Matthew Weaver combines concise reporting of the facts as they emerge with discussion of postings on blogs and even FaceBook groups.
The Tracing Paper has been a little neglected recently as I’ve been concentrating on developing a new site, FeedReel on Food and Drink, exploring the range of food and drink writing on the web.
Earlier posts here (particulary the UK Food Blog Search) have touched on this, but it’s really a subject that goes beyond The Tracing Paper’s professed interest in the origins of our food (on which more will follow soon, honest).
For anyone with an interest in food and drink (isn’t that everyone?), the web is an increasingly exciting source of ideas, stimulation and information.
Every day, over 30 fresh articles are posted on over 100 UK food blogs, with over a dozen more on 20-odd UK beer, wine and cider blogs. Numerous specialist websites are constantly adding new content and much of the old mainstream media’s writing on food is also available online.
The only problem is keeping up. It’s all too easy to miss an article on your favourite food and all too difficult tracking down the best information when you’re looking for a particular recipe or the low-down on a restaurant.
I’ve been tagged for the Fantastic Four blog meme by Richard at superfood. The idea is simply to provide four answers to each of five questions, and to tag four bloggers to continue the meme.
So here are my answers, mostly food related and with a few extra food connections (this is a food blog, after all):
4 jobs I’ve had
Goatherd
Organic veg box packer
Mushroom picker
Tour guide - an opportunity for good lunches all over Italy
4 places I’ve lived
Eye (Suffolk, England) - where Laurels Farm Butchers is shortlisted for the Best Butcher category in the 2007 Suffolk Food Awards East Harling (Norfolk, England) - which also has a superb butcher, FL Edge & Sons, and the wonderful Jan’s Fruit & Veg Esanatoglia (Le Marche, Italy) - where I first learned to identify wild mushrooms Dolgellau (Gwynedd, Wales) - where I was temporarily distracted from food by rhododendrons
4 places I’ve holidayed
Loch Lomond (Scotland) - including a wonderful lunch at Monachyle Mhor, somewhere in the distance in the photo above Continue Reading »
The re-emergence of foot and mouth disease in the UK last Friday is a tragedy, most of all for the blameless farmers who have seen their livestock struck down, but also for livestock farmers across the country; the meat trade, from hauliers and abattoirs to butchers and pie-makers; rural tourism businesses; and everyone who enjoys good British meat (eg Superfood) or simply cares about the farmed landscape. Much of our most cherished countryside, from heaths and moorland to valley pasture and ancient grassland, has been shaped by livestock and depends on regular grazing.
Just 5 days in from the first outbreak, it’s far too early to guess how the epidemic (it’s officially an epidemic once there’s more than one outbreak) will unfold this time, but there is at least cause for hope: DEFRA appears to be handling the situation far better than MAFF managed in 2001; a likely source of infection has been identified; and there have only been 2 localised outbreaks - 6 had been identified at the same stage in 2001, with suspected cases reported from Devon to Northumberland.
The mainstream media are following developments closely, but there’s no better source of comprehensive information and informed comment on FMD than Warmwell.com, an independent website established by Mary Critchley early in the 2001 epidemic. The variety of information collated by Warmwell ranges from scientific reports to personal accounts of what’s really happening on farms. The site has been updated, apparently daily, since 2001 and has extended its interests to cover a wide range of farming and animal health issues.
For a grisly reminder of the last epidemic, Warmwell has an archived transcript of Muckspreader’s Not the Foot and Mouth Report for Private Eye, still the best accessible account of the events and mistakes of 2001.
Early August and the harvest of the winter sown oilseed rape (Brassica napus, its edible varieties also known as canola) is well underway in the UK. The spring-sown crop ripens later and will be ready for harvest in late August and September.
From Spring Yellow to Harvest Brown
Rapeseed ready for harvest is a drab brown, a far cry from the bright yellow fields of the crop in flower, and often has a distinct cabbage smell, a reminder that it’s a member of the Brassica family.
Spring-sown rape ripens unevenly and must generally be dessicated or swathed a week or two before harvesting to ensure ripeness of all the seedpods. Both methods kill the plants to allow ripening to continue without further growth or maturation - dessication is achieved by chemical means (generally Diquat spray), swathing is a mechanical alternative.
Rape is combine harvested to yield its tiny black seeds, destined to be crushed to produce oil for food, industrial uses and, increasingly, biofuels. A growing number of farmers are cold pressing the seeds themselves to produce extra-virgin rapeseed oil. The meal left after crushing is high in protein and used for animal feed.
Amazon.com has today announced a new venture: AmazonFresh will be delivering fresh (and frozen and “shelf-stable”) foods, ordered online, to households in Seattle.
The foods available will include “highest-quality fresh fruits and vegetables” and a “leading assortment of natural, organic, and specialty brands”.
Some of the produce is described as “farm-fresh” but there’s no further information on its provenance, at least not to anyone without a by-invitation access code to start shopping. AmazonFresh follows Amazon’s rather quiet introduction of dry groceries to its product range last year.
This is a more innovative move in the US than it would have been in the UK, where most of the major supermarkets offer online shopping and delivery. PlanetRetail reports (citing the Food Marketing Institute) that just 6% of US shoppers have bought groceries online in the last year, whereas 80% have bought something online.
