A spot of tree maintenance, guerilla style

There’s a small triangle of sloping ground near my folks’ house, between the railway station and the access path, where several trees have been planted. Not sure how long the trees have been there – at least a few years – and the staking hasn’t been removed. It’s really started to bug me that the straps are digging into the trees, and will eventually kill them off. So when we were over yesterday for the last time before the folks move house, I had a last chance to help the trees out.

Cbeebies ‘I can cook’ rocks!

After the last few posts about the World Food Summit, I thought I’d blog about something closer to home. I can cook is a BBC programme* that shows young children cooking. They cook real food in a cheerful kitchen and then eat it. Simple!

There are many things to like about the show: 5 kids and the presenter make the same dish so you can see that each of them makes it in a different way; and each kid is praised for the work they’re doing. They use raw egg in some shows, and use blunt-nosed kitchen scissors in others. The recipes are child-appropriate, although one minor worry was the fish triple decker smothered in a layer of ketchup, with its salt and sugar content. (Ha! I should talk … my daughter mainlines the stuff)

I’m most impressed with the I can cook garden, where they take the kids out to collect an ingredient. Am envious of their nice raised beds and greenhouse.

Today’s recipe was for savoury bites. The daughter and I had just made scones, so it was interesting to show her that some of the recipe was the same, and how they used chives instead of sultanas and sugar. I really like their way of describing mixing the fat and flour as tickling the flour.

Our scones turned out well, using rice milk and stork instead of cows’ milk and butter. Taste great with home-made jam, too.

Search for I can cook on BBC iplayer

* It’s actually an Endemol programme for the BBC, but I won’t quibble.

More overseas development aid required to eradicate hunger

The Food Summit’s ended, and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf is disappointed that targets and deadlines haven’t been set. There are some important results, though; and more of that later.

A well-fed food activist, hostile to new technologies

Am I a well-fed food activist who’s hostile to new technology? I ponder this as I drink wine poured from from a screw-top bottle into a blue plastic camping mug…

I’m probably not helping my cause by also pointing out that Nigel Slater’s lentil and sausage stew is a one-pot meal that’s simpler to make the the usual way I make the dish. The old recipe calls for a glass of red wine (which is why I’ve got some left over on a Monday night) and also needs the lentils cooked seperately from the sausages.

In other news, Nick Herbert’s piece against Meat Free Mondays in the Guardian includes straw men, sleights of hand and bizarre assertions. That’s the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs talking, so hold onto your hats after next year’s election. The only glimmer of hope is that some of that portfolio is a devolved matter.

Personally, I’m all for reducing the amount of meat in my diet; but not eating meat on Mondays? What about the left-overs from a Sunday roast? I guess that’s me being a well-fed food activist who’s hostile to new technologies like prepared meals…

Nestlé at the World food summit

As well as a civil forum prior to the summit, it looks like Nestlé’s been trying to influence things in a private sector pre-summit meeting.

It’s interesting that Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (CEO of Nestlé) reckons that food price volatility is here to stay because of the amount of speculation. However his plea to curb this speculation sounds more like a request to allow Nestlé to plan financially rather than ease the plight of small producers. Of course, I’m also miffed at the suggestion that I’m a well-fed activist who’s hostile to new technologies… (when in fact I’m with Colin Tudge on this one)

Here is my awkward translation of the civil society forum’s response to Nestlé

Andrea Ferrante, president of the AIAB (Italian Association of Organic Agriculture) responds: Nestlé is one of the principal forces running down agricultural production from peasants, and is therefore one of those responsible for the impossibility that producers from the global south have in marketing their products to local markets. To give an example: the case of milk powder sold by the multinational in developing countries.

Ferrante adds: the food multinational allows itself to insult peasant organisations from around the world that are meeting in Rome over the next few days for the parallel forum of civil society – Peoples Food Sovereignty Now! But in this manner, Nestlé once more demonstrates its total incapacity to understand its own model of production, that contributes to a system responsible for obesity and bad diet, and is also an important part of the cause of climate change, of poverty and of global famine.

Via Campesina have a press release “Transnationals contribute to HUNGER, farmers provide SOLUTIONS”

World summit on food security opens Monday

Over 60 heads of State and Government are planning to attend World Food Summit this week. A parallel forum People’s Food Sovereignty now! runs from 14-16 November. I’m going to follow these from the comfort of my home, and will try and make some sense of how it relates to me.

Tomorrow: if the weather holds, I’ll be transplanting rhubarb on the allotment. This soil and health page gives me some understanding of the root structure anad this page has a picture of a rhubarb root

Why I chose Good Energy renewable electricity

Very glad we changed our electricity to Good Energy as part of our 10:10 pledge. (yes, yes, I know we should have got 100% renewable electricity earlier but we were so busy cycling and working the allotment. OK?) Latest news on their blog is an open letter to the Prime Minister regarding his forthcoming visit to Copenhagen.

This is in contrast to our old electricity supplier (Eon) who increased the amount we were paying by direct debit when we were a hundred pounds in credit. Oh … and they want to build 4 new nuclear power plants. I think we’re better off without them on a micro- and macro level. *waves*

First frost

Was going to transplant some rhubarb today, but the ground’s still hard from last night’s frost. Weather report says tonight will get to -2 in Edinburgh.

Not too worried about the rhubarb as Joy Larkom reckons mid- to late Winter is the best time to transplant.

Weather and propagating blackcurrants

What weather we’re having!

Saturday was very warm and sunny. I had decided, on Thursday, to go to the Saturday class of tai chi and I was giving myself a hard time because I wasn’t out at the allotment. Nevertheless, the class was great and I inadvertantly did 90 minutes more tai chi that I had anticipated. Have recapped the fourth section of the square form.

Sunday: what can I say? Torrential rain. The daughter came back from her grandparents, and they all got soaked just getting from the car to our door.

Today: cool and sunny. A friend came over to help out on the plot, and we dug over a bed and propagated some blackcurrants. Quite simple, really, and this means we’ll have 12 blackcurrant bushes in a couple of years if they all take. Last year I propagated 4 and only 1 survived. Let’s see how it goes this year.

Shandon Food Group Winter events have started

On Wednesday there was the first of Shandon Food Group’s Winter series of events. There were a couple of nice presentations from Rob Ford of the Bridgend Allotment Community Health Project and from Tonya Brash of the Edinburgh Garden Share Scheme. Then we wrapped up with excerpts from The Power of Community.

A full write-up will appear on the Shandon Food site

Next event is on Monday 14 December. More details to follow…