A strict conservation programme is helping protect the tiny country’s marine ecosystems, despite the growing threat of steadily warming waters
Why Belize is a world leader in protecting the ocean
All photographs by Tony Rath
Continue reading...Category Archives: Food
This porridge is just right: homemade baby food that’s big business in India | Amrita Gupta
Entrepreneurs are cooking up wholesome alternatives to sugary baby formulas in a country where only one baby in 10 gets the recommended nutrition
When her baby was six months old, Dr Hemapriya Natesan found herself appalled by the sugary commercial baby food available. With her mother, she began to make batches of mullaikatiya sathumaavu, a traditional porridge for weaning infants in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
It’s a painstaking 10-day process with more than 15 grains, lentils and nuts. Many of the ingredients are first sprouted, then sun-dried in the sweltering heat before being slow-roasted, ground and sieved.
Continue reading...‘Always ask if there’s coffee in it’: Mormon church stands by rule with new advice
Church offers guidance to avoid unintentional rule-breaking, such as ‘the word coffee isn’t always in the name of coffee drinks’
The Mormon church has renewed warnings to its younger members that there’s no grey area when it comes to the temptations of coffee – don’t drink it.
“The word coffee isn’t always in the name of coffee drinks,” warns an official guidance in the August issue of a youth magazine for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Continue reading...Branding cheese as feta and gruyere may be banned in Australia under EU deal
The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has released a list of food products the EU wants protected as ‘geographical indicators’
Australia is gearing up for a fight with the European Union over the naming of hundreds of products including feta, gruyere and scotch beef as negotiations continue over an “ambitious” free trade agreement.
The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has released a list of names the EU wants protected as part of the new trade deal – known as “geographical indications” or GIs – which are aimed at protecting European products.
Continue reading...Eating and drinking in Africa’s largest slum – in pictures
Despite poverty, lack of refrigeration and a constant battle for cleanliness, the residents of Kibera are resourceful with the food they eat and sell. Fried fish, samosas, and bean dishes are all on the menu, reflecting the cultural mix of those who call the area home
Continue reading...Secret report reveals government fear of schools chaos after no-deal Brexit
Risk of axed exams and food shortages, while informing the public ‘may cause panic’
Schools may have to close, exams could be disrupted and fresh food for pupils’ meals could run short because of panic buying with prices soaring by up to 20%, according to a secret Department for Education analysis of the risks of a no-deal Brexit obtained by the Observer.
The five-page document – marked “Official Sensitive” and with the instruction “Do Not Circulate” – also raises the possibility of teacher absences caused by travel disruption, citing schools in Kent as particularly at risk.
Continue reading...UK less able to cope with hard Brexit than it was in spring, say officials
Exclusive: Analysis includes stark assessments of potential problems including panic-buying and civil disorder
The UK is currently less able to cope with a hard Brexit than it was in the spring, with the real risk of panic-buying in the run-up to Christmas and civil disorder if the country leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October, an official document reveals.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, has made Michael Gove responsible for “turbo-charging” Brexit planning, and on Thursday the new chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced an extra £2.1bn of funding to prepare for a no-deal exit.
Continue reading...If it’s Monday it must be moussaka: how meal-planning can save you stress and money
Tired of scrabbling around for last-minute dinner ideas and throwing away unused perishables? These 10 tips will get you properly organised
Kate Turner is aware that the chalkboard meal-planner in her Sussex kitchen can bewilder visitors. “Friends come round and go: ‘Wow, my God!’,” says the author of My Zero-Waste Kitchen. That breakfast, lunch and dinner wallchart (Wednesday: porridge; Dad’s salad; pilaf; Thursday: cereal, tuna sandwiches; spinach pie) may look overwhelming, but Turner insists: “It’s not scary. Not having to think about what you’re cooking is liberating. It saves money, time and stress.”
Meal-planning has a way to go before it becomes mainstream, but it has long been a hit with weight-loss experts and wellness gurus, and the growing desire to cut food waste has led to a new wave of interest.
Continue reading...Unsavoury truths about fair trade | Letters
Tim Gossling and Bob Caldwell advise checking the smallprint and question how trustworthy the movement is
The death of fair trade (Journal, 23 July) can partly be laid at the door of the EU. Its treatment of former colonies, restricting tariff-free trade to “primary produce” so that the profitable part of the businesses, manufacture, is protected, means that they may be independent in terms of politics, but are economically still the same colonies.
Take Ghana, which Samanth Subramanian mentions. Go and buy your bar of “Fairtrade” Divine chocolate. On the back it waxes lyrical about Kuapa Kokoo, the cocoa farmers’ organisation that tries to guarantee fair and stable prices for cocoa beans, with a bit extra for the social premium. Read to the end of the small print where it says: “Made in Germany”. Ghana has a perfectly good chocolate factory, at the port town of Tema, but workers only make chocolate for the local market, because that is all they are allowed to do. Ghana would be a lot richer if it could sell the manufactured product over here, but that would be in direct competition with the German manufacturer, which the EU is formed to protect. That is why I voted leave in the referendum – though I probably would not do so again, as Brexit is unlikely to improve the situation.
Tim Gossling
Cambridge
Pro-meat protesters fined for eating raw squirrels at vegan stall
Pair ate fur-covered dead animals in front of children in London despite pleas to stop
Two pro-meat protesters have been fined after eating raw squirrels at a food market.
Related: View to a cull: is grey squirrel the ultimate sustainable meat?
Continue reading...Switzerland’s wine festival – in pictures
The Swiss town of Vevey has staged a once-in-a-generation celebration of its winemakers, with fancy dress, alpine horns, cows and dancers kicking off a festival that dates back to the 18th century. The three-week Fête des Vignerons, which began in 1797, is held roughly every 20 years and on Thursday 5,500 locals donned costumes, wigs and makeup to take part in the gala opening
Continue reading...The Syrian refugees changing the UK’s food scene
Mohamad Rahimeh found a talent for cooking in the Calais refugee camp. Now he has a viable business in London
When Mohamad Rahimeh arrived in the Calais refugee camp that was nicknamed “the Jungle”, cooking was the last thing on his mind. He was a political scientist from Syria with a journey from hell behind him. Food was just a means to an end.
But when a close friend fell sick, he rustled up a meal of eggs. A hidden talent was uncovered.
Continue reading...Revealed: rampant deforestation of Amazon driven by global greed for meat
Investigation exposes how Brazil’s huge beef sector continues to threaten health of world’s largest rainforest
The cows grazed under the midday Amazon sun, near a wooden bridge spanning a river. It was an idyllic scene of pastoral quiet, occasionally broken by a motorbike growling on the dirt road that cuts through part of the Lagoa do Triunfo cattle farm to a nearby community.
But this pasture is land that the farm has been forbidden to use for cattle since 2010, when it was embargoed by Brazil’s government environment agency Ibama for illegal deforestation. Nearby were more signs of fresh pasture: short grass, feeding troughs, and salt for cattle.
Continue reading...We must not barter the Amazon rainforest for burgers and steaks | Jonathan Watts
The EU-Mercosur trade deal is good news for Brazil’s huge beef industry but devastating for the rainforest and environment
European leaders have thrown the Amazon rainforest under a Volkswagen bus in a massive cows-for-cars trade deal with Brazil and three other South American nations.
The EU-Mercosur agreement – the largest in Europe’s history, according to officials – will make it cheaper for Brazilian farmers to export agricultural products, particularly beef, despite growing evidence that cattle ranching is the primary driver of deforestation.
Continue reading...Enforcement of food and drug safety regulations nosedives under Trump
Number of ‘warning letters’ sent by FDA has fallen by 33% compared with the most recent equivalent period under Obama
The US regulator of food and drug safety has seen steep declines in several markers of enforcement under the Trump administration, according to a new analysis in the journal Science.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sends “warning letters” for tainted food, improperly advertised dietary supplements or even violations of human subjects’ protections in clinical trials.
Continue reading...Plan to sell 50m meals made from electricity, water and air
Solar Foods hopes wheat flour-like product will hit target in supermarkets within two years
A Finnish company that makes food from electricity, water and air has said it plans to have 50m meals’ worth of its product sold in supermarkets within two years.
Solar Foods is also working with the European Space Agency to supply astronauts on a mission to Mars after devising a method it says creates a protein-heavy product that looks and tastes like wheat flour at a cost of €5 (£4.50) per kilo.
Continue reading...Belgian monks finally launch website to sell ‘world’s best beer’
Beer lovers will still have to travel to St Sixtus abbey to pick up their allotted crates
It has been described as the world’s most sought-after beer. Just over 5,000 barrels are brewed annually by the 19 Trappist monks of St Sixtus abbey in Westvleteren, Flanders, and drinkers tempted by the regular appearance of its darkest brew at the top of the world rankings must travel in person and on appointment to pick up their allotted two crates.
But even the reclusive brothers are having to change with the times – to an extent. In order to stay one step ahead of those seeking to sell on their beer at steeply inflated prices, the abbey has announced it is going digital. A website has been set up where customers can order their two crates, with priority given to recent and new customers.
Continue reading...Up to four avocado trucks stolen in Mexican state every day
Packers and exporters took out newspaper adverts to decry situation in Michoacán, a battleground for warring crime factions
Up to four trucks carrying avocados are stolen every day in the violent Mexican state of Michoacán, as organized crime groups seek to take advantage of consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetite for the fruit.
Avocado packers and exporters took out newspaper adverts on Friday to decry a worsening security situation in the state, which has long been a battle ground for warring crime factions.
Continue reading...Germans thirsty for alcohol-free beer as brewers boost taste
Rise in bars stocking 0% beers to meet demand of drinkers who wish to ditch the hangover
During last year’s sweltering summer in Europe, workers of the Störtebeker beer brewery stood at the doors of the bottle depot eagerly awaiting the empty returns so they could be washed and refilled as quickly as possible. A bottle shortage swept the country due to the rate at which beer was being consumed to quench the overheated nation’s thirst.
But it wasn’t the demand for their classic range of beers that surprised the brewery bosses most, rather the rate at which its alcohol-free varieties were being drunk.
Continue reading...Pale rosé isn’t better – and nine other pink wine myths debunked
It’s all sweet, it’s only for summer or ought to be cheap ... the prejudices about rosé wine endure, but we really should know better
Red wine gives you headaches; white wine tastes of nothing, unless it’s sauvignon blanc; all Aussie wines are fruit bombs; the world will end if the flow of prosecco falters – the world of wine is full of ridiculous prejudices. Yet no style gets discriminated against quite like rosé. It’s all sweet, we’re told, or it’s only for women, or for summer, or for women in summer …
For a long time, rosé was disregarded because good winemakers didn’t make it: star California winemaker Rajat Parr, who was a San Francisco sommelier in the 1990s, once said: “No one cared about it, no one thought about it, no one drank it.” That, thank goodness, has changed – yet the prejudices remain. So let’s bust a few persistent myths.
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