Articles

Wildlife documentaries? Eco-tourism? Pat Thomas asks: Are we loving nature to death? A new report puts forward the theory that wildlife film makers are invading the privacy of animals by going to ever greater extremes to film otherwise unseen moments of life in the animal kingdom. According to Brett Mills, a lecturer in film studies at the University of […]

In the run up to the British general election, Pat Thomas says the various party manifestos are starved of sound policies on food security and sustainability Food is a four letter word. Or at least that’s the impression given by the election manifestos of the main political parties. Most of the documents devote a demure […]

Keeping your baby’s bottom soft and dry shouldn’t mean exposing it to a potentially harmful and environmentally costly substance. By Pat Thomas Talcum powder is a traditional mainstay of freshness. We use it liberally on babies’ bottoms and to absorb perspiration on hot summer days and nights. A few of us are old enough to […]

“The people are revolting” – as the old joke goes. But revolting against what? And just who are this era’s revolutionaries? The metaphorical, if not actual, role of the revolutionary is to have a vision. It is to overthrow a tired status quo, to liberate the enslaved – whether they are physically enslaved or whether they are […]

News agencies, newspapers and especially the blogs of Big Agriculture and the livestock industry are rubbing their hand with glee. A new analysis claims that meat may not have as great a climate impact as has recently been reported. The paper, Clearing the Air:  Livestock’s Contribution to Climate Change, suggests that figures in the UN […]

Is it healthy? Is it 
organic? Is it fairly traded? How far has it travelled? At times, making informed choices can feel like a full-time job. Here is a pocket guide to buying food from the new book Stuffed More than anything else, the new interest in ethical shopping indicates a break away from a […]

Pat Thomas addresses the pressures of dwindling food and water supplies, increasing prices and an expanding population Every era has a defining issue: in the twenty-first century, that issue will likely be global food security. A complex intersection of challenges unique to our time is at work – peak oil, climate change, declining water supplies […]

Faced with an itchy young head full of nits, it’s all too easy to reach for a bottle of potent chemicals. But is smothering your child’s hair in pesticides really the best solution? By Pat Thomas Of the common childhood disorders, few are met with such revulsion in adults as head lice (Pediculus hummus capitis), […]

For whatever reason you choose to chew it, this plastic, potentially toxic mish-mash of ingredients is bad for the environment and bad for us. Pat Thomas reports Football managers chew it to keep their nerves and emotions under control. Lovers chew it to keep their teeth white and their breath kissing fresh. Kids chew it […]

It may look pretty, but the unmistakable odour of nail polish betrays a cocktail of toxic ingredients. Pat Thomas reports Should you find yourself browsing through the astonishingly large selection of nail polishes in the beauty section of any store you’ll likely find a lot of enticing colours with yummy sounding names like Red Caviar, […]