Today's News - 30 March 2012
"The use of these pesticides is so widespread that most bee colonies in areas of arable farming are likely to be exposed to them, so there is potential for them to be playing a significant role in suppression of bee populations on a pretty staggering scale."
Dave Goulson from the UK's University of Stirling and colleagues – BBC News – 29 March 2012
533,000 meals per day in the UK served to the catering standard
The Soil Associations’ Jim Kitchen discusses the importance of sourcing local produce as well as encouraging Northern Ireland to meet the ‘catering mark’ standards following the announcement that .
BBC Radio Ulster – Good Morning Ulster, listen again (29 Mar – 13m20s)
BBC Radio Foyle, listen again (29 Mar - 42m)
Find out more about the Sustainable Food Cities initiative.
Read more about Sustainable Food Communities in Northern Ireland.
Find more about the Food for Life Catering Mark
New pesticides linked to bee population collapse
Worldwide declines in bee colonies, threatening much of global agriculture, may be caused by a new generation of nerve-agent pesticides, two new scientific studies strongly suggest. Both honey bees and wild bumble bees are seriously harmed by exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides, even by tiny doses not sufficient to kill them outright, the studies by British and French scientists report today.
The Independent (30 Mar)
Pesticides hit queen bee numbers
BBC News (29 Mar)
Pesticides linked to honeybee decline
The Guardian (29 Mar)
Toxic pollen and the mad bee disease disaster
In July 1994, French beekeepers reported that their honeybee population had displayed strange, agitated behaviour and had "melted away". "Mad bee disease," as it quickly became known, was thought to have caused the death of 40% of bee colonies and beekeepers looking for an explanation for the catastrophe began pointing the finger at a new type of pesticide.
The Guardian (29 Mar)
World first Olympic timber procurement success confirmed
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has achieved a “world first” by securing FSC and PEFC project certification on the Olympic Park site, with 100% of wood products supplied certified as “legal and sustainable”. Soil Association Woodmark said the project was a world first for certification of such a huge and complex site. FSC-certified material made up 67% of the 12,500m³ timber products procured, while PEFC accounted for 33%.
The Timber Industry Magazine (29 Mar)
Read more about the Soil Association’s Woodmark here.
Free feast on College Green
People in Bristol will be treated to a free feast when a project to save food from landfill comes to Bristol. The Feeding the 5,000 event is coming to College Green May 12th to show how food that would normally end up in landfill can be used to produce a wonderful lunch. It is being supported by local businesses and charities including the Soil Association, Bristol City Council, Food Cycle, Thali Cafe, Love Food, Kambe Events and Coexist.
Bristol Evening Post (29 Mar)
Read more about the event here.
Sign the ‘feeding the 5000 pledge’
Synthetic biology: the best hope for mankind’s future?
The UK government has just declared that synthetic biology – the science of making novel living organisms – could lead to a new industrial revolution and should be a research priority. Many environmentalists argue instead that creating new life forms could endanger the existing ones. But it may be that synthetic biology is our best hope of preserving life on our planet.
The Guardian (29 Mar)
EBRD buys into Kazahk wheat
Kazakhstan is well known as an emerging oil power with a growing role in meeting the world’s energy needs. Less well known is the central Asian country’s huge agricultural potential and ability to contribute to global food security. Against a backdrop of rising world wheat prices, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has chosen Kazakhstan as the destination for its first ever equity investment in farming.
Financial Times (29 Mar)
Birds Eye fish fingers get thumbs up from sustainability body
Ecological awareness is coming to the captain's table as Birds Eye announces that its entire cod and haddock fish finger range has been awarded sustainable fishing certification from the Marine Stewardship Council.
The Guardian (30 Mar)
Nature deficit disorder 'damaging Britain's children'
UK children are losing contact with nature at a "dramatic" rate, and their health and education are suffering, a National Trust report says. The trust argues, as have other bodies in previous years, that the growing dissociation of children from the natural world and internment in the "cotton wool culture" of indoor parental guidance impairs their capacity to learn through experience.
BBC News (30 Mar)
Farming Today
The National Trust claims UK children are experiencing 'Nature Deficit Disorder' because they have too few opportunities to play in wild places. The Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage tells Farming Today that properly designed and sited wind turbines can improve habitats for some wildlife species. We find out why Lyme disease, which is spread by ticks, has increased threefold in the UK over ten years. And, is the allure of rare breed meat to chefs about more than cachet and a hefty price tag?
BBC Radio 4, listen again (30 Mar)
And finally…Six legged calf wins Swiss hearts
A six-legged calf has defied the odds by thriving despite a vet's prediction at birth that it would not survive. Seven-week-old Lilli is a minor celebrity in her native Switzerland after local media were splashed with images of the calf frolicking in a sunny field.
The Guardian (29 Mar)
