News

Time to ‘Rethink’ Agricultural Sustainability

A new report from A Bigger Conversation argues that the concept of sustainability has become distorted and compromised, and needs to be radically rethought. It explores how we can shift to a life-centric approach, linked to a core philosophy that sustainability must first and foremost sustain life.

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Webinar: Gene Editing – Blurring the Lines Between Nature and Technology

This webinar is part of the Bigger Conversation initiative, which we run at Beyond GM. ‘Natural’ is a much abused concept, and yet it still has meaning to many especially where food and the environment are concerned. The UK government’s document Regulating for the Fourth Industrial Revolution talks about “blurring the lines” between the natural […]

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Webinar: Gene Editing & Agroecology – Reframing the Debate on Food System Transition

This webinar is s part of the Bigger Conversation initiative, which we run at Beyond GM. Looked at through the lens of the current industrial farming paradigm, gene editing makes sense as a ‘tool in the toolbox’.  But farming urgently needs to change and it is widely agreed that agroecology is the paradigm we need […]

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Mental Wellness Out Now

I am pleased to say that a new book, which I helped to write and acted as a consultant on, has landed.

Neal’s Yard Remedies Mental Wellness, explores the key lifestyle inhibitors to mental wellness and suggests supportive natural approaches for maintaining mental health in the form of herbs, foods, aromatherapy, homeopathy, breathwork, yoga, connecting with nature, hobbies; and therapies such as acupuncture, reiki, massage, and CBT.

As with all the Dorling Kindersley books I have been involved in on behalf of Neal’s Yard Remedies I was working with a fantastic team and this is both a beautiful and practical volume. It was also an interesting project to work on during stresses and restrictions of the last year’s extended lockdowns!

Copies available to purchase here.

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Family – and Other – Ties

I know it’s hard for many people to put a positive spin on the pandemic and resulting lockdowns this year. I also know I have been lucky. My health has been good and the largely solo world of a freelance journalist and researcher meant that not going out or seeing people wasn’t much of a […]

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The Price of Progress Film

A new film, The Price of Progress, is an exploration of money, power and health in the context of the food industry. As the world’s population swells, the film shows the pressures, emotions and motivations of the politicians, journalists, scientists and corporations involved. What is the future of the food we eat? I was among […]

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Webinar: Climate Crisis, Designer Babies and Pandemics

Such an interesting and wide-ranging discussion with author and activist Bill McKibben, evolutionary biologist Stuart Newman and social theorist Marsha Darling focussing on the common threads between COVID-19, the looming climate crisis, centuries of race-based oppression and proposals for “designer babies”. You might not think that they are all linked but, in fact, each demonstrates […]

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Webinar: Sense, Science and Sustainability

As part of the Bigger Conversation initiative, which we run at Beyond GM, I was pleased to chair a meeting of minds for this webinar which asked a huge and challenging question: Can genome editing and agroecology co-exist in the sustainable food and farming mix? The panel was a “Who’s Who” of farming, animal welfare, biotechnology, […]

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New Booklet on Food Sovereignty

Food Sovereignty – Rethinking the Food System continues the series of information booklets I have been doing with the Daphne Lambert and the Greencuisine Trust. Today, we are witnessing a growing and urgent debate over the future of food and farming. There is real momentum behind the desire to transform the food system, to recognise its […]

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Coronavirus: Did it Begin in the Lab? – Live Interviews

Just because everything else is shut down – that doesn’t mean we should shut down our minds as well! Having spent many decades looking at health issues, I am increasingly uncomfortable with the way the media is handling the issue of the coronavirus. The mainstream media (and increasingly social media) is making a concerted effort […]

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