GEORGE ALAGIAH — Ethnic Supplies

I would like to get fat on good quality food

including meat, this was a statement made by Ken Clarke on BBC Radio 4′s ANY QUESTIONS dated 30/10/09 Listen at 40 minutes.

A question was put to the panel by a member of the audience as a result of Lord Stern’s report regarding climate change The Times has quoted Lord Stern as advocating for a vegetarian diet due to the level of carbon is produced during the production of meat, as well as the amount of water that goes into meat production. This issue was raised as part of George Alagiah’s programme the FUTURE OF FOOD .

According to Ken Clarke it is right to think about climate change and make adjustments elsewhere but not by meat reduction nor become a vegetarian. Like Ken Clarke I am unlikely to become vegetarian but have reduced my meat in take due to fears of high cholesterol a point raised by the Spanish MEP on the panel.

That said I could not help but wonder, whether Ken Clarke had somewhat been flippant in his response! Is it double standards on my part since I eat meat too? Perhaps! I felt that he could have chosen better examples of steps he takes in his daily life to address climate change as someone in public life and certainly his opening remark (the heading of this blog) will not endear him to tree huggers.

Incidentally when I listened to the programme that followed ANY ANSWERS, it transpired that I was not alone in my views that Ken Clarke had been flippant in his remarks. We do have a dilemma on our hand though. As humans we were never meant to be purely vegetarians, so what do we do about climate change as an effect of our meat eating?

What about the food crisis elsewhere? Should we be cutting down whole forests in order to provide animal feeds whilst folk elsewhere in the world are dying of hunger?

What do you think?

Should Europe be taking fish from Senegal’s waters?

BBC 2 is currently running a series of documentaries that are looking at the FUTURE OF FOOD fronted by former Fair Trade patron George Alagiah both here in the UK and the rest of the world generally.

The first episode looked at the issue food security and water in particular and showed the lengths to which a Punjab based wheat farmer goes too to access water to irrigate the wheat that is headed to the west and the level of debt this has left him with whilst elsewhere in Punjab some have committed suicide as they could not cope with the level of debt they were in nor could they see a way out.

This week’s episode has left me (us) with some dilemmas. With European waters over fished and dwindling supplies, we are heading further a field to look for fish and one of the countries at the receiving end of our quest for fish is Senegal a relatively poor African country. Fish is a vital part of the diet of the coast villages in Senegal but with the arrival of European fishing boats, the locals don’t stand a chance and one fisherman said "he simply wishes they would go away". The consequences of the Europeans fishing Senegalese waters has meant that fish in Senegal has become so expensive that most local people can’t afford it!

The story moves on to a farm in Kenya that grows green beans for UK supermarkets. I was having dinner whilst watching this part and on my plate was grilled Salmon, mangetout, grilled courgettes and tomatoes and I must admit to struggling to finish it.

The Kenyan story is very sad indeed. A country that grows and exports a lot of food to the UK but has to rely on UN FOOD AID to feed its people! Perfectly good beans being rejected because they have a bit of soil on them or are the wrong shape!

The programme touched on the issue of Bio fuel. Yes we need to protect the environment and one way is to check our fuel consumption and the sources of fuel. But is it fair to take away farming land form rural people that use it for growing food and turn it into a field for bio fuel crops that neither people nor animals can eat?

What about feeding cattle on cereals/grains in order to fatten them whilst some people can’t access this cereal for food? I sincerely don’t know what the answers to these questions are, but all I know is that we need to address these issues one way or another.

As George said we have some tough choices to make especially here in Europe. Our food choice is currently threatening the food and water security of some of the poorest people in the world. It would appear too that we face unknown future in as far as our own food security is concerned unless we rethink how we farm and eat.

Is the way forward to "GROW" our own? Is the ethical thing to do to farm our own fish instead ot taking fish from those that need it the most? What about our shopping habits? Are supermarkets simply giving in to our demands of super perfect Kenyan green beans?

Have you got a view on any of the issues raised here? Please share it! I would urge to to watch George’s programmes on BBC 2 or iplayer