Food Archive

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  Jamie and the chicken - by frog

  
  
  
  As promised last night. See also here. read more
  August 27, 2008 8:42 am - 12 Comments
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  Jamie Oliver serves chicken - by frog

  
  
  
  Tonight TVNZ is showing Jamie Oliver’s The Big Food Fight: Jamie’s Fowl Dinners where the English chef as he usually does, hosts a dinner, but this time to demonstrate the reality of how chickens live and die to put food on our plates: With the help of poultry farmers and experts, Jamie brings together consumers, [...] read more
  August 26, 2008 5:03 pm - 32 Comments
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  Conservative support for the green food movement - by frog

  
  
  
  John Schwenkler from The American Conservative has an interesting article on how green food movements like Locavorism and Slow Food exemplify conservative values. The production, distribution and preparation of food is an emotive sustainability and health issue. So it’s not surprising that food distributed by small, independent farms fits tidily into Schwenkler’s conservative ethos. The [...] read more
  August 15, 2008 7:35 am - 12 Comments
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  Cuba in the Pacific - by frog

  
  
  
  The Hive is looking on worried at six Cuban doctors working for free in Vanuatu.  Presumably it is worried about some sort of communist domino effect in the Pacific, as that is the sort of thing foreign affairs bureaucrats are paid to worry about.  And maybe the Hive is on to something – there are [...] read more
  August 12, 2008 10:10 am - 7 Comments
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  Michael Pollan - by frog

  
  
  
  Sue Kedgley has just put up this video of a conversation she had with one of my favourite food writers, Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. read more
  August 12, 2008 9:37 am - 4 Comments
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  “A victory for supermarket consumers and competition in markets” - by frog

  
  
  
  That’s how the Commerce Commission is describing the Court of Appeal’s decision to block Woolworths and Foodstuffs from buying out their competitor the Warehouse. Commerce Commission Chair Paula Rebstock says New Zealand consumers know that more competition is needed in the supermarket sector: “The Commission declined clearance in mid-2007 for acquisition by either Foodstuffs or [...] read more
  July 31, 2008 1:19 pm - 3 Comments
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  Predicting the perfect food storm - by frog

  
  
  
  If you have read Stuffed and Starved, the book that predicted current food crisis before it began, you’ll enjoy this Guardian interview with it’s author Raj Patel. His analysis shows how communities around the planet have been disempowered by a system that appears to offer an abundance of cheap food, but in reality dictates unhealthy [...] read more
  July 30, 2008 6:45 am - 43 Comments
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  Mandatory country of origin labelling - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  Tomorrow I will present my 37 thousand signature petition calling for mandatory country of origin labelling of all fresh and single component food to the Health Select Committee. It’s hard to believe that both the Labour and National parties oppose something as basic as our right to know where our food comes from. We have [...] read more
  July 29, 2008 3:20 pm - 40 Comments
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  Can broccoli cure cancer? - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about the Greens’ food policies here in recent months.  Mostly when I do it is about the consumer rights to know and choose, the economic and environmental impacts of multinational industrial food versus locally grown and produced, and the need for people to have access to affordable [...] read more
  July 22, 2008 3:43 pm - 24 Comments
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  Supermarket behaviour threatens suppliers - by frog

  
  
  
  Check out this story from the Independent in the context of Sue Kedgley’s call for a supermarket code of conduct and an inquiry into the way the duopoly treats farmers and consumers: Supermarket giant Progressive Enterprises is turning the screws on its suppliers with a “no clash policy” imported from Australia. The policy financially penalises [...] read more
  July 19, 2008 9:51 am - 13 Comments
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  Government needs to give people choices as prices rise - by frog

  
  
  
  There have been some interesting statistics from StatsNZ over the last couple of days. Seasonally adjusted motor vehicle retail sales are down nearly 15% between April and May this year.  Total retail sales fell for the month by $69 million but that can mostly be attributed to people buying less cars (down by over $100 [...] read more
  July 15, 2008 12:39 pm - 21 Comments
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  The endosulfan threat - by frog

  
  
  
  In the last few days Sue Kedgley revealed not only that the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) was recommending continuing to allow the use of Endosulfan, the highly toxic insecticide  which is banned or heavily restricted in more than 50 countries, but that traces of endosufan were turning up in our beef exports to South [...] read more
  July 11, 2008 8:19 am - No Comments
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  The great British food debate - by frog

  
  
  
  Britons are having a nationwide debate about reducing food waste in an effort to reduce energy use. Gordon Brown the Prime Minister is using a cabinet report that shows the UK throws away an annual 4.1m tonnes of edible goods, the equivalent of £420 for every home, to call for Britons to waste less food. [...] read more
  July 8, 2008 7:35 pm - 9 Comments
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  A not so great G8 - by frog

  
  
  
  The G8 is meeting again, this time in Japan, and deciding what it wants to see happening in the world over the next few months.  As a concept the G8 always irritates me irrationally.  It’s kind of like the school yard bullies getting together and deciding a school’s lunch distribution policy.  Yes, they might have [...] read more
  July 7, 2008 4:49 pm - 4 Comments
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  Farming, food, chicken plucking and ape rights - by frog

  
  
  
  Don’t say that title too fast.  Here’s few foody bits and pieces from around the world. Farmer Peter Kindersley tells the Guardian about two different ways to pluck a chicken.  The first is not pleasant, given New Zealand’s high rate of campylobacter: [T]he scald tank that was part of it has always been a headache [...] read more
  July 2, 2008 3:35 pm - 3 Comments
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  Goodbye Charlie Pedersen - by frog

  
  
  
  The Wellington ‘beltway’ will be a quieter place without Charlie Pedersen who leaves Federated Farmers presidency to be replaced by Southland sheep and beef farmer, Don Nicolson. In his parting shot yesterday Charlie gave a rambunctious speech, mostly focused on attacking the Resource Management Act. But some of what he says is right there on [...] read more
  June 26, 2008 11:20 am - 18 Comments
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  Poll affirms Family Party GST policy - by frog

  
  
  
  This media release is just out from the Family Party. A research company says four out of five New Zealanders think the Government should consider lowering taxes on food and petrol. The Government has again ruled out cutting GST on petrol saying it wouldn’t make any difference, but Research New Zealand said a poll showed the [...] read more
  June 18, 2008 9:52 am - 39 Comments
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  Growing upwards not outwards - by frog

  
  
  
  Green Upgrader has an interesting analysis of the sustainability of vertical farms.  A vertical farm is kind of like a big tall building where each floor is a field or paddock rather than office space.  Check out this picture: Obviously by stacking your farm fields one on top of another you save space that might [...] read more
  June 18, 2008 6:38 am - 25 Comments
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  Supermarket and grocery store sales - by frog

  
  
  
  These stats from last week’s Retail Trade Survey from Stats NZ are interesting in light of concerns that Jeanette and others have been raising about the role that our supermarket duopoly is playing in putting price pressure on both farmers and consumers.  Looking at this graph the trend for supermarket sales has been steadily tracking [...] read more
  June 15, 2008 8:21 pm - 8 Comments
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  Attack of the poison tomatoes - by frog

  
  
  
   The United States has just been battling a bizarre outbreak of salmonella poisoning.   167 people in 17 states have fallen ill from salmonella, 23 have gone to hospital and one has died.  And the culprit is tomatoes;  specifically out of season tomatoes that have travelled thousands of miles from their farm to final resting [...] read more
  June 13, 2008 2:49 pm - 34 Comments