News

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012

Now this really is a treat for me… As a sustainability campaigner, part-time forager and full time passionate cook I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to being a UK delegate at the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012, in Turin, hosted by Slow Food International. This will be my first experience of this semi-annual […]

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New Deck at Infrequently Asked Questions

My Infrequently Asked Questions site continues to go from strength to strength thanks to word of mouth and a few nice pushes from friends. I’ve just added a new deck called WellBeing which is health focused. It’s designed to illuminate the connection between body and mind and can be useful at those times when you […]

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Let Food Be Thy Medicine

If things have been quiet on these pages recently…

…it’s because I’ve been in the middle of writing a book with my friends and colleagues at Neal’s Yard Remedies, Susan Curtis and Dragana Vilinac, on the medicinal properties of food. It’s been a mouthwatering journey, though ironically – and frustratingly – when trying to meet heavy book deadlines the one great pleasure that tends to go out the window first is cooking and eating well!

More on this project when I can give you the details…

Pow! Right in the Kisser!!

The spectre of toxic chemicals and colourings in lipsticks has raised its ugly head – again.

A report out in today’s Daily Mail talks about all the chemical nasties that cosmetic manufacturers put in lipsticks in the name of ‘beauty’. It’s a great report written by John Naish, a fine journalist and author of one of my favourite books Enough – Breaking Free From the World of More, and I was pleased to be quoted in such a generous way.

If anyone is interested I raised the issue of toxic lipsticks in my Behind the Label column in the Ecologist in 2006. The problem of ugly ‘beauty’ products is also featured in my books What’s in This Stuff? and Skin Deep. John’s article also mentions some genuinely worrying problems with, amongst other things, the antibacterial chemical Triclosan. You can read more about this in my article The Dawn of the Domestic Superbug.

You’d think by now manufacturers – and more crucially women – would have got the message and stopped using this stuff!

Summer fun at Trill Farm

I’m very much looking forward to chairing the Biodiversity talk at this year’s Trill Farm Summer Festival.

My friends at Trill Farm have got a very full schedule lined up for their four-day Festival, which runs between August 2-5. In between the wildflower walks, African Drumming, poetry, singing, dancing, yoga in the woods and lantern making – and of course great organic food – there will be a series of Trill Conversations covering topics of diversity, sustainability and culture. I’ll be there on August 2 to chair the Biodiversity talk and will also be around on the 3rd to generally lend a hand during a busy time on the farm! See the full programme of events here.

For those of you that don’t know it (yet), Trill is a 300 acre mixed organic farm set in the rolling hills and woodlands of east Devon, close to the Jurassic coast. Romy Fraser (founder of Neal’s Yard Remedies) and her family bought the farm in 2008 with the aim of developing an education centre, and community of small businesses based on the farm, working together to use resources of the diverse landscape.

The farm has a number of thriving independent enterprises established within it and a rolling programme of courses and events throughout the year. Visit the website to find out more. See you there!

Celebrating 30 years of the Organic Herb Trading Company

We’ll be enjoying the sunshine in Somerset this weekend.

The summer is here (kind of) and I’ll be chairing the Systems of Herbal Medicinetalk at the OHTC Summer Fair (June 30th, 12.30-6pm, Milverton, Somerset), which features some real heroes of mine: herbalist and author Anne McIntyre, Sebastian Pole, co-founder of Pukka Herbs as well as OHTC‘s Mike Brook.

OHTC is the UK’s leading supplier of organic herbal ingredients. Chances are if you use UK-made organic cosmetics, or buy herbal teas or remedies in this country, some or all of the ingredients came from this amazing enterprise. The fair coincides with the 30th anniversary celebrations for OHTC and in addition to a stimulating programme of talks there will be great food, drink, entertainment and other events – and the whole thing is being powered by onsite renewable generation. It’s going to be a great day out in the country so do join us if you can!

Eco hero, me?

Thanks to the folks at Greenhouse PR for the opportunity to be one of their Eco Heroes.

Greenhouse PR is an ethical public relations agency that works with organic, ethical and eco companies. The agency has made a name for itself by only taking clients with impeccable green credentials and refusing to ‘greenwash’ big brands. It was a pleasure to take part in their Q&A, which you can read here, and to be part of a really interesting collection of people in the Eco Hero series.

Ecologist ‘merges’ with Resurgence

On May 31st a rather low key announcement was sent out to say that the Ecologist website had ‘merged’ with Resurgence magazine It talked about the Ecologist ‘returning to its roots in print’ – and most of us who loved the Ecologist didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry out loud. It took […]

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Free To Say ‘No’?

What’s in that bottle? How do you know what’s in the toiletries and cosmetics you buy? Chances are the label and the packaging are the first things you look at to check if your product is free from ingredients of concern such as parabens, mineral oils, phthalates, silicones, synthetic fragrances and colours and GM and […]

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Facing the future: Innovation in food and farming

Soil Association Annual Conference 2012, Royal Horticultural Halls, London, 2 March 2012 This year’s conference is a celebration of innovation in food and farming. The day will be full of talks and workshops exploring this theme from two different perspectives: from a technical perspective looking at the scientific and technical progress being made in organic […]