Today's news - 29 January 2013

 "Just as we use fiscal measures to discourage drinking and smoking and help prevent people from dying early, there is now lots of evidence that the same approach would work for food.”
Mike Rayner, Oxford University's department of public health and chairman of Sustain
The Guardian (29 Jan)

Campaign to tackle hunger, called Enough Food for Everyone IF, launched in Bristol
A campaign to tackle hunger, called Enough Food for Everyone IF, was launched in Bristol by campaigners from charities and leaders from faith and community groups. Charities and groups based in Bristol and the South West including Christian Aid, Oxfam, CAFOD, Send a Cow, Bristol Fairtrade and the Soil Association were some of the organisations that came together for the launch at City Hall.
This Is Bristol (28 Jan)
Find out about the IF campaign here

Neonicotinoids: commission moves to legislate to protect bees
The European Commission has said it will take legislative action to protect honey bees from the effects of neonicotinoids but has ruled out a complete ban.
The Grocer (28 Jan)
Find out about the Keep Britain Buzzing campaign

World Bank spending on forests fails to curb poverty, auditors claim
The World Bank's $4.1bn (£2.6bn) investments in forestry over the past 10 years have done little to reduce poverty, improve conservation, tackle climate change or benefit local communities in developing countries, a study by its own inspectors has found.
The Guardian (29 Jan)

Tax sugary drinks to boost child health, says report
Sugary drinks should be subject to a new tax, which could add 20p a litre to their price with the proceeds going towards child health, a report says. The report by food and farming charity Sustain says the government could raise £1bn a year from a duty on sugary drinks to pay for free school meals and measures to encourage children to eat fruit and vegetables.
The Guardian (29 Jan)

Industry comes together to prevent food surplus going to waste
A number of food industry giants have come teamed up to slash the amount of surplus food being wasted. The new Food Redistribution Industry Working group had its first meeting last week to assess the systems currently in place, explore potential solutions to increase distribution of surplus food and build a plan of action.
The Grocer (28 Jan)

How mountain grass makes the cheese stand alone
Herding cattle up the side of a mountain might seem like a lot of extra work, but for thousands of years, people have hauled their cows into the Alps to graze during the summer months. Why? It's all about great-tasting cheese.
National Public Radio (28 Jan)

How an Englishman proved to be the big cheese when it comes to fromage
Cheese is embedded deeply in France’s sense of national identity. Charles de Gaulle said that it was impossible to govern a country which had so many different kinds of cheese.
Imagine then the astonishment when a competition to choose France’s most expert cheesemonger was won by… an English civil servant.
The Independent (28 Jan)

Watch: Hong Kong turns to organic farming in light of mainland food scares
Many Hong Kongers are moving toward local, organic farming in response to tainted food scares on the mainland, Hong Kong's biggest vegetable importer. Food scares have also prompted some mainlanders to get on the organic wagon, though the movement has yet to achieve lift off, and a fair amount of organic goods have turned out to be fakes.
Shanghiist (29 Jan)

Good health and nutrition are key to fertility success
Successful suckler beef production relies on being able to produce a calf from every cow every 365 days, and the key factors behind ensuring this actually happens lie in a stockman's ability to get herd health and nutrition right.
Farmers Weekly (29 Jan)

Extent of flooded farmland illustrated in graphic
This dramatic weather graphic illustrates the extent of flooding farmers have been battling over the last few months.
Farmers Weekly (28 Jan)

Charity releases small-scale poultry slaughter guide
The Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) has published an online guide to the slaughter of poultry, available for free on its website.
Farmers Weekly (28 Jan)

Sheep farmers fighting 'unsustainable' lamb price - NFU
Farm chiefs have vowed to help sheep farmers struggling in the face of face of soaring input costs and a collapse in the lamb price.
Farmers Guardian (29 Jan)

Harper Adams to research 'farm robots' with Chinese university
Harper Adams University has been awarded £36,000 to fund collaborative research with a leading agricultural university in China. This funding will see the universities research precision farming techniques, including robots.
Farmers Guardian (29 Jan)

Farming Today
The RSPCA - defending animal welfare or taking the law into its own hands? Anna Hill hears the debate over the role of the animal charity.
BBC 4 (29 Jan)

And Finally… Beautiful pictures of underwater ice bubbles... that are actually created by plants releasing gas
The Daily Mail (28 Jan)