Todays News - 19 March 2012

 “We are proud to have achieved the bronze Food for Life Catering Mark. This award means that parents can be certain that the food their children are eating at nursery is freshly prepared using quality ingredients. The Catering Mark offers recognition for the high standard of our food and provides an independent guarantee from the Soil Association that we’re really providing the best food service for the children.”
Mel Fox, Catering Manager at Busy Bee’s Nurseries, on their achievement of the Food for Life Catering Mark bronze award – Natural Products – 15 March 2012

UK’s largest childcare provider gets Soil Association award
Busy Bees, the UK’s largest childcare provider, has been awarded a bronze Food for Life Catering Mark from the Soil Association for serving fresh and healthy meals in 129 nurseries across England and Wales. This guarantees that all 14,000 meals served to children at Busy Bees nurseries every week day are freshly prepared from seasonal ingredients, better for animal welfare, and free from trans fats and GM.
Natural Products (15 Mar)
Find out more and watch the video here.
Find out more about the Food for Life Catering Mark here.

Corn Insecticide Linked to Great Die-Off of Beneficial Honeybees
New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops - part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder - with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides. The study, published in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, appears on the eve of spring planting seasons in some parts of Europe where farmers use the technology and widespread deaths of honeybees have occurred in the past.
ScienceDaily (14 Mar)

One in four broilers from alternative systems
Higher-welfare indoor systems now account for 18% of the UK broiler market. According to the British Poultry Council, indoor assured (‘standard’) production now accounts for 72%. According to a report published by the Soil Association last week, organic broilers account for 2.2% of the total UK market, worth £26m.
The Meat Site (16 Mar)

Ethiad Airways to introduce organic inflight dining
Etihad Airways announced on Friday an exclusive partnership with Abu Dhabi Organic Farms, the first internationally certified organic farming initiative in the UAE, to supply fresh organic produce for its inflight first class dining menus.
Khaleej Times (16 Mar)

Guilt-free beauty: How you can be certain that products have not been tested on animals
How many beauty products on your bathroom shelf have been produced without cruelty to animals? The truth is, most of us couldn’t be certain and, sometimes, even checking the packaging won’t provide you with the full story. So where can you find high-performance beauty products that haven’t been tested on animals? Here are some of the Daily Mail’s favourites, including Neal’s Yard and Aubrey Organics
Daily Mail (19 Mar)

BBC criticised for ‘anti-British farming’ coverage
The BBC has been slated for its ‘anti-British farming coverage and ‘alarmist’ attitude to the badger cull. Farmers said they were left ‘disappointed’ by several of the BBC’s recent stories, which they said were heavily critical of them. 
Farmers Guardian (16 Mar, p.7)

Farmers ‘will have to cull feral beavers’ on River Tay
Farmers will have no option to cull beavers on the River Tay themselves after Scottish ministers reversed capture plans, organisation that represents landowners has warned.
The Telegraph (16 Mar)

Rainwater harvesting is essential to feed the world
Agriculture across the world depends on rainfall, so harvesting and conserving rainwater is key to boosting crop yields, writes Jerome Bossuet.
The Guardian (16 Mar)

Hands Off Our Land: Frustrated Osborne vows to make building on countryside easier as cracks show in Government
George Osborne yesterday pledged to push through planning rules that will make it easier to build in the countryside, despite reassurances by ministerial colleagues that the reforms will not be a “developer’s charter”.
The Telegraph (19 Mar)

Greece on the breadline: 'potato movement' links shoppers and farmers
A scheme letting consumers buy food straight from producers is typical of the inventive ways Greeks are finding to get by.
The Guardian News Blog (18 March)

OECD slams rich countries’ water pollution record
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released a new report this week which is highly critical of progress made by OCED governments in reducing water contamination from farming. The OCED report shows little progress has been made in tackling contamination over the past decade, resulting in problems ranging from contaminated drinking water supplies, which require treatment in Scotland, to huge dead zones off the coast of the USA.
Farming.co.uk (16 March) 

US-style 'obesogenic' diet being exported to poor countries, says UN expert
The West is exporting diabetes and heart disease to poor countries, along with the processed foods that line the shelves of global supermarkets warns UN advisor Olivier De Schutter
The Ecologist (14 March)

England faces wildlife tragedy as worst drought in 30 years hits habitats
Tadpoles this spring will be facing more than the usual predatory threats of fish, birds and children with jam jars. Amid the worst drought in 30 years "a wildlife tragedy" is looming that could inflict a heavy toll on some of England's best-loved species.
The Guardian (19 Mar)
Drought will cause ‘wildlife tragedy’, says Environment Agency
The Independent (19 Mar)

Farming Today
Alien Invaders: Charlotte Smith hears the killer shrimp has arrived in the Norfolk Broads. The biggest challenge facing farmers in the next few years is water - whether too much, or too little. RASE Chief Executive Denis Chamberlain tells Farming Today how farmers in England are changing how they work the land to cope with the drought. And Caz Graham tries her hand at coppicing - the traditional way of managing woodlands to create healthy habitats for wildlife and to provide wood.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (19 Mar)

And finally…In praise of fruit flies
Male fruit flies, when rejected by females, turn to alcohol. Not for nothing are habitual drinkers sometimes dismissed as bar flies.
The Guardian (18 Mar)
 

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