Shoppers are being warned to expect higher
prices for home-grown British vegetables this autumn and winter.
The wet summer has cause a shortage of many crops, including
sprouts and carrots, while costs to farmers have risen. Pumpkins
have also had problems in ripening, so some growers have resulted
to artificial heaters to turn them from green to orange, which
will also push up prices.
Farmers across the UK have been hit badly
by the knock-on costs of livestock movement bans from the
foot-and-mouth and bluetongue virus outbreaks. The National
Farmers’ Union reports that farmers have lost £2million
a day in loss of business and extra costs since late August.
Council recycling schemes for household
food waste in Wales will benefit from a new grant package
of £14million, announced by the Welsh Assembly. Thirteen
local councils will be awarded between £714,000 and
£3.137million over the next two years to help meet recycling
targets. Schemes will collect household and kitchen food waste
and turn it into compost or even electricity and fuel. Blaenau
Gwent will also set up Wales’ first plastic bottle recycling
plant.
Al Gore and the
UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have
been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts
to disseminate knowledge about man-made climate change. Former
US vice-president Al Gore won two Oscars for his film “An
Inconvenient Truth”, a hard-hitting documentary that
highlights the potential impact of global warming. All secondary
schools in Wales, England and Scotland have received a copy
of the film, but a high court judge has recently ruled that
it must be shown with teachers’ guidance on nine areas
of scientific dispute, after an attempt by a Kent school governor
to ban the film from being shown.
A report commissioned by UK TV Food has
named Ceredigion as the top place for quality food in the
UK, with Powys second and Monmouthshire fifth. The judging
panel, which included TV Chef Gary Rhodes, evaluated every
region in the UK to find out who made the best use of their
local ingredients. Ceredigion’s high proportion of farms
(34 for every 1,000 people), food markets, breweries, restaurants
and numerous summer food festival gave it the top marks. The
Local Food Hero for Wales was named as Jean Kane who runs
an organic café, Organic Zone, in Cardiff.
The Food Standards Agency has revealed
that carrots are the number one veg choice for Christmas lunch
in Britain, knocking Brussel sprouts into second place. The
FSA surveyed 2000 consumers and found that 76% said that tucking
into a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings
was one of their favourite parts of Christmas. 23% said that
when they cooked their Christmas meal, they would be taking
into account various dietary requirements such as allergies,
intolerances and diabetes. 19% said they would be cooking
a vegetarian option. The FSA website gives guidance on eating
healthily and safely at Christmas, with a turkey defrosting
and cooking guide.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/seasonsandcelebrations/winter/saferchristmaseating/
Many Welsh organic food producers were
honoured at a prestigious annual awards ceremony in Cardiff
on 24th November. Caws Cenarth Cheese scooped top prizes in
the Farm Producer of the Year category as well as Best Organic
Product, while Bacheldre Mill won the True Taste Innovation
in Packaging award for their flour. Other winners in the organic
award categories were:
Best Organic Product – Meat
Gold Award: Wild Boar Bacon/Gammon, Harmony Herd
Silver Award: Organic Sirloin of Lamb, Welsh Farm Organics
Bronze Award: Organic Leg of Mutton, Organic Aran Lamb
Best Organic Product – Dairy/Other
Gold Award: Cenarth Caerffili, Caws Cenarth Cheese
Silver Award: Stoneground Strong Malted 5 Seed Flour, Bacheldre
Mill
Bronze Award: Organic Shiitake Mushrooms, Crai Organics
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