This is my last blog for 2009 - it’s been a bit of a whirlwind 2009 for us.

The birth of mygreenlifestyle magazine has been an exciting venture and we have learned so much on the journey.

2009 was not the best year to launch a new business with the deepest global recession ever known taking a grip on just about everrything – but we have dug in and weathered the worst of the storm.

And here we are, its Christmas time and all the madness that comes with it.

 Mixed up in all of this is the Copenhagen Climate talks, a plethera of information and opinions arrive in my inbox every day.

I do hope the talks bring about a change that will improve the environment and go someway to reducing our somewhat vulgar approach to consumerism, and make this world more sustainable for our future generations.

Until 2010 – I wish all our readers a very ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’

 

Yvonne Ainsworth - editor

 

It’s Hand Hygiene Week – and it’s really something close to my heart.

Get the Hand Washing Habit!!

I’m not a person to go down with bugs or viruses – I say bravely- and I do not intend to succumb to the swine flu. But it’s important for everyone to take hand washing seriously to keep flu numbers down.

Health Minister Andy Kerr via NHS hand washing campaign:

It is a simple fact that hand washing is one of the single most important things you can do to help to reduce the spread of infections and is key to preventing ill health. Just wash your hands regularly with soap and warm water and you and your family are more likely to stay healthy. We can all play a part in reducing the spread of infection by washing our hands more thoroughly and more regularly”

 

Soap and water is all that is required, you do not need anti-bacterial cleaners.  Try to steer clear of toxic products.  There are some great natural hand sanitizers on the market. Method hand wash is naturally-derived, biodegradable, contains no triclosan, and is never tested on animals. They offer environmentally friendly products and are offering a special 1/3 off at Boots until 3 November.     Yvonne Ainsworth

 

  

The heat is on....

 

The need to ban the pesticide-neonicotinoids is heating up and the government can no longer drag their heels on this one.

 With the launch of the controversial film Vanishing of the Bees, The Soil Association is campaigning around the film and have collected over 14,000 signatures on their petition to get neonicotinoid pesticides banned - to add your voice, you can sign up on the front page of our website on the Soil Association – Save our Bees banner.

Emma Hockridge, Soil Association policy coordinator, said:

"The film is a shocking expose of the long term impacts pesticide use has on bees. We recognise there are complex issues contributing to the decline of bee populations such as other industrial farming practices. But the film and excellent recent review of the impacts neonicotinoid pesticides have on bees by Buglife (the invertebrate trust) highlights the negative impact this group of pesticides are having on our pollinators. I urge people to sign our petition to help us make a difference."

US beekeeper David Hackenberg, who first described CCD in the US and appears in the film Vanishing Of The Bees, warns CCD in the UK is likely to get worse and calls for more research into the cause.

"You have Colony Collapse Disorder [in the UK], because you are using the same pesticides – the neonicotinoids – and you are seeing the same results – bees that quit eating, lose their sense of direction and eventually disappear."
Organic farms around the country are also getting involved by hosting screenings of the film. Organic farms offer benefits to bees, for a number of reasons such as use of clover in rotations (which bees love), and not using insecticides.

Vanishing of the Bees

Released in UK Cinemas 9 October 2009

Produced & Directed by George Langworthy & Maryam Henein

Executive Producers James Erskine and Holly Mosher –

Don’t miss it.

 Yvonne Ainsworth

Are GM Crops a Saviour or just a Government publicity stunt?

Is it a coincidence that the FSA’s [UK's Food Standards Agency] report on their findings that Organic food has no nutritious benefit over non- organic food, comes at the same time as the government announces the alarming food shortages we are going to suffer in the foreseeable future?

Is it a coincidence that this also coincides with DEFRA [UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and the FSA’s work with the Cabinet Office and DFID [UK's Department for International Development] on a cunning little plan for insinuating GM into the food supply, for promoting GM crops and foods as "being inevitable", and for dismissing public opposition to GM?

I would suggest that it was a well orchestrated initiative from the Government’s spin machine over the past month or so - this is the very time when the Great British Public is on holiday and snoozing in the sun. It's also the "silly season" when news is thin and when maximum coverage is guaranteed from the British media.

My advice would be, “Don’t buy into it” there is nothing to suggest that GM crops are any different now to when they first condemned in 1998.

Yvonne Ainsworth

GMWatch is a new myth-busting website dedicated to exposing the myths and lies that abound within the biotechnology industry. www.gmwatch.org

 

Are the FSA (Food Standards Agency) irresponsible for issuing the result of a report, commissioned by the FSA, carried out by experts from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who studied data collected over 50 years which concludes that organic food has no benefits over non-organic food?

 I think the press release below from the BDAA makes it pretty clear.

 Press Release

 Food Standards Agency Organic Food Review

Rebuttal from the BDAA – Bernard Jarman (Exec Director)

 

It is no surprise that a straightforward nutrient analysis concludes that there is no difference between organic and other food. After all the substances analysed are building blocks common to all foods. What is more surprising is that such a limited investigation has been carried out. It is widely acknowledged that food quality assessment needs to include many other factors too - flavour, keeping quality and absence of chemical residues being but three.

The reasons why people choose organic food are various, but important among them is that they have been grown without pesticides and contain virtually no toxic residues. This is highly significant but was consciously left out of consideration by this piece of research. The effects of chemical residues on health have been well documented.

 A second reason they choose organic food is that organic farming guarantees that the environment is properly cared for, that animal welfare is assured and that the integrity of plants and animals is fully respected. At a time of growing awareness of the damage being done to the environment, this is a major consideration when buying food. Organic farming, dependent on soil for providing nutrition to the plants is focussed on creating humus, and humus is a very powerful method of locking up atmospheric carbon.

 Of course there are also the personal reasons, as consumers also chose organic food because of its quality.  Quality concerns flavour, smell, appearance, keeping quality and vitality, all somewhat intangible elements which are difficult to assess analytically. However, the human senses can assess quality in a moment, and where, in wine tasting for example, we are most interested we develop senses that are highly acute.  In this area organic and in particular, biodynamic growing is consistently shown to produce a better product.  People who care as much about their carrots as about their wine know what nonsense this report is talking.

 Biodynamic food bearing the Demeter label and incorporating all organic standards is particularly known for its fulsome flavours, good keeping quality and high vitality. Analytical tests on fresh biodynamic vegetables also show well balanced protein formation (improving digestibility) and increased dry matter and fibre content. All factors which contribute to a healthy diet.

 Organic food is better for the environment and better for health. Organic food is a wise and meaningful choice for consumers to make.

So, are they irresponsible – yes it’s almost like saying, ‘it’s safe to smoke’!!

 

Yvonne Ainsworth

August 2009

 

Should we wipe out the grey squirrel?

It’s The Reds v The Greys.

 

The Prince of Wales has asked landowners to wipe out grey squirrels from the countryside to protect red squirrels and to save our native woodlands. He has told the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) that it is “absolutely crucial to eliminate the greys”. As we all know, the Prince of Wales can call upon some hefty influence when he feels something very strongly I’m not sure where I sit with this one. We have a little grey squirrel who visits us every day. He runs all the way around our perimeter wall, along the fence jumps down on to the road and hurries along to the house at the end of the drive. The lady there feeds him nuts everyday. He has given us so much amusement and entertainment, the thought of wiping him out seems outrageous to me. Grey squirrels were introduced to Britain from the US in the 19th century and has an estimated population of 3.3 million, compared with 160,000 reds. Red squirrels numbers are increasing which is great as in fact they are making a comeback from near extinction.

Prince Charles has blamed grey squirrels for the “immense and increasing damage” to woods and wildlife across the country. The Prince, who is patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, believes it would make all the difference not only to the survival of an iconic native species, but also to the success of all efforts to restore and enhance our native hardwoods. The push for a grey squirrel cull coincides with a wider campaign by the CLA to revive the woodland industry in England and Wales. It believes that greater incentives to plant and grow trees will help to tackle climate change, protect wildlife and offer more opportunities for people to get out into the countryside. Landowners are baffled as to the lack of urgency in tackling the grey squirrels. They claim the grey squirrel damage thousands of maturing trees by stripping off the bark, estimated to cost more than £1 million a year, without taking into account the loss of red squirrels, woodland birds and dormice.  Who would have believed a cute little grey squirrel was capable of all that, they’re only awake half the year!   Yvonne Ainsworth. July 2009

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Health & Safety demands sounds the ‘Death-Nell’ for pick-Your- Own Fruit Farm.

 

You would think that taking the family out on a sunny afternoon to pick a few strawberries to be a relaxing recreation, with the reward of enjoying some fresh fruit for tea.

Well you’d be wrong. According to Health & Safety Officials it is a hazardous pursuit and requires specific safeguards for fruit pickers.

For Boddingtons Berries pyo fruit farm it’s a step too far. They are closing their gates to visitors after trading since 1945.

Boddingtons of Mevagissy, Cornwall, have announced that after a risk assessment it is to close to the public after being ordered to ‘radically refurbish’ its land.

Phil Boddington has said that insurance premiums have more than doubled and insurers want them to cotton wool the place by adding walkways and bridges, and making restricted zones with cordons. The cost of this would be more than any turnover they could generate.

 

You could ask yourself if this crazy Health & Safety body are in cahoots with the supermarkets. Who are these people who dream up this nonsense! Why are they hell bent on trying to destroy businesses?

Whatever happened to ‘Enter at your own Risk’?

  

Yvonne Ainsworth

June 2009