Food for thought – wonky veg

Feeding the 5000 at Trafalgar Square at lunchtime today

Facts about food waste
* UK households waste 25% of all food bought
* Around 20 to 40% of UK fruit + veg is rejected before reaching the shops – mostly for not matching the supermarkets’ strict cosmetic standards
* An estimated 20 million tonnes of food wasted in the UK from the plough to the plate
* 43 million people in the EU, 35 million in the US and 4 million in the UK suffer from food poverty
* The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations
– Up to half the entire food supply is wasted between the farm and the fork
– If crops wastefully fed to livestock are included, European countries have over three times more food than they need
* All the world’s circa one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than ¼ of food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe
* 2.3 million tonnes of fish discarded in the North Atlantic and the North Sea each year; 40 to 60% of all fish caught in Europe are discarded – either because they are the wrong size, species, or because of the ill-governed European quota system

source

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Who says? And how did I get this info?

Well, I sprinted to Trafalgar Square at lunchtime today to see what the Feeding the 5000 campaign was all about.

It was quite literally that: 5000 portions of veggie curry being given out, free. All made from ingredients that would otherwise have been wasted: surplus food saved from going to food mountains; vegetables rejected due to being the ‘wrong’ shape.

Thankfully, there was a continuous line of people taking up the offer – it seemed very well received (judging by all of the scraped-empty dishes) and smelled gorgeous.

Curry made from food that would have been wasted

Lunch munchers – veggie curry proves popular at Trafalgar Square

A team was on stage in a makeshift kitchen demo-ing cooking with wonky butternut squash, talking through some of the facts above, while volunteer martials distributed flyers and enlightened satisfied munchers of the campaign’s aim which is “to highlight the ease of cutting the unimaginable levels of food waste in the UK and internationally”.

Cooking with wonky vegetables

Ok, so the facts might be shocking, even embarrassing. As a nation, we waste far, far too much food. But how can this wastage be reduced and what’s it got to do with me? It’s not my responsibility is it? …is it? Can I really help to change things?

Maybe we can, collectively. By reducing the amount of food we – as consumers – waste. By recycling more. By composting. And realising what the organisations listed below are doing, not only to raise awareness in general (educating us all is a good thing) but claiming back perfectly good, surplus food that would otherwise go to food mountains and instead feeding those in need.

Food for thought indeed.

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More info / useful links:
~ This event’s facebook page

~ FareShare – UK charity fighting hunger, tackling food waste

~ FoodCycle – UK charity, encouraging local communities to set up groups of volunteers to collect surplus produce locally and prepare nutritious meals in unused professional kitchen spaces, with delicious meals then being served to those in need

~ Feeding 5k on Twitter

~ Love food hate waste – campaign by WRAP (government funded) encouraging us all to to be more efficient in our use of materials and recycle more often

~ More of Feeding 5k’s partners

~The Sun supports Fight the wonky veg mountains!

~ *Victory* for wobbly veg Waitrose brings back ugly veg

~ Oliver Rowe’s demo: cooking with butternut squash

Will and Kate get hitched – Or, a right royal wedding

A party atmosphere dominates London today and it’s been building for weeks. Thousands of visitors from all over the world have descended on the capital to be a part of the royal wedding celebrations.

Yesterday, this was no more apparent than in Green Park in the afternoon (full of freshly arrived people hanging out with their suitcases in the sun) and last night along Whitehall where people were camping out on the pavements. On my way home, I stopped to ask happy campers where they were from: some as far as the USA, others as close as London. Passing Westminster Abbey around 11pm, the red carpet was just starting to be laid out and it felt like something momentous was about to begin.

Last minute preps outside Queenie’s yesterday morning on my walk to work

Media village, Green Park yesterday – Ben Fogle’s back? and another

Laying out the red carpet at Westminster Abbey last night

Every day, I walk to work through Victoria, past Buckingham Palace and across Green Park. When the media village appeared in Green Park a few weeks ago, it disrupted access for pedestrians, and it seemed just that – a disruption. Then, the construction of multi-level studios began directly opposite the palace, and viewing platforms sprang up by the Victoria Memorial, and the anticipation crept in.

It’s been an amazing experience to see my routine daily walk across London so totally transformed for this historic event. By the start of this week, everything had suddenly taken shape: The Mall area was ready for today and even more people than usual have been attracted to Buckingham Palace’s gates. The atmosphere around Westminster Abbey last night was one of excitement. And now the big day is finally here.

07:00 – A bit dehydrated and clumsy, I’m feeling the effects of last night’s drinks after work. Who’s to blame? Oh, me. I prepare a right royal breakfast that includes bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese and a bottle of sparkling rosé.
08:00 – It’s a chilly start to the day and we’re on our way by bus to Marble Arch.
09:00 – On arrival at Speakers’ Corner, people are making their way into Hyde Park – it’s still fairly empty. Souvenir sellers are doing a roaring trade – everyone’s buying flags. There are three 100m² screens in the park and we lay out a picnic blanket in front of the centre screen and bed in. Time for breakfast and a hair of the dog.
10:00 – The park’s filling up quite quickly now. I note the exact position of our picnic blanket and head off to the porta-loos before Prince William is due to make his appearance. On my return, I aim for the centre screen but can’t find our spot now the crowds are pretty dense. Minor panic. I try phoning and texting but no luck*.
I go to the front of the crowds to take in Huw Edwards’ running commentary for ten minutes before going to look again, successfully this time.



11:11 – The sun comes out during the first hymn, changing the weather from cold and grey to sunny and well – proper picnic weather. There’s a relaxed, party atmosphere here in Hyde Park with corks popping all around me. Everyone’s cheering and waving Union Jack flags and having a good time. When the service ends and the wedding bells start ringing on screen, confetti spews over us all in the park.

13:20 – The first public kiss between the Prince and Princess on the balcony at Buckingham Palace (how many millions of people around the world are watching? Could that be the most viewed, most public kiss ever?) followed by the fly-past. We see and hear the Lancaster bombers in the ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ on-screen over Buckingham Palace first, and then – very excitingly – they do a lap above us, over Hyde Park.

14:00 – Live entertainment is well underway from MIB (they can really sing but are covering cheesey tracks of Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, Aerosmith, etc). Still, it’d be rude not to shimmy, and Robbie Williams’ Let me entertain you goes down well.
*Texts and voicemail messages start to come through now – the networks have been jammed, unsurprisingly


Dancing in the park on a sunny afternoon

15:00 – Leaving the park on Park Lane, the crowds disperse quickly and – passing Grosvenor Square and the American Embassy – it’s eerily quiet by the time we reach Berkeley Square. It’s suddenly back to busy on Piccadilly, where more crowds are leaving Green Park and queuing to get into the tube station, where I notice that I’m burnt pink from my couple of hours in the sun. What an English rose.

And what a thoroughly wholesome and top day out.

More royal wedding info:
~ Official Royal Wedding website
~ GLA info on royal wedding screening at Hyde Park

More photos:
~ Monarchy’s Official Royal Wedding photos
~ GLA’s royal wedding photos
~ A right royal picnic slideshow
~ Royal wedding photos

Hyde Park video-clips:
1. Crowds gather in Hyde Park – 10am
2. First sight of the bride’s dress by Sarah Burton
3. It’s not just the crowd that’s buzzing – interference
4. Patriotism in the Park – loadsa flag-waving
5. Hyde Park’s sing-along to God Save the Queen
6. Signing marriage registers at Westminster Abbey
7. Confetti fountains
8. Hyde Park Sreening – Along The Mall
9. First public kiss + fly-past
10. Dancing in the park on a sunny afternoon

Moo-ove over for the elephants!

London’s full of elephants – what a cheerful sight!

Following the success of London’s 2002 Cow Parade outdoor art exhibition, the city is again brightened up for summer 2010 with over 250 painted elephants.

Not only is it a pleasant surprise to turn a corner and be faced with a beautifully designed elephant (or five, as I was, walking to work through Green Park this morning) but the parade raises awareness about endangered Asian elephants.

Exhibits are for sale by auction to raise funds – they’re all listed along with the route map here.

Rebecca Sutherland’s Harapan, #210, is my favourite – with brightly patterned jungle scenes and an orangutan across its face:

Sumatran Orangutan Society’s elephant

More info:
~ Elephant Parade London website
~ Elephant Family org – protecting Asian elephants
~ Elephant spotting photos

1999-2009: Ten Years Saving Orang-utans

From Forest School to Freedom

It’s 10 years since the Nyaru Menteng (NM10) orang-utan rescue and rehabilitation centre opened in Borneo. Last night, founder, Lone Droscher-Nielsen was in London to talk about her team’s work to save this endangered species, and to raise much-needed funds.

Recognisable from TV series’ Orang-utan Diary (BBC) and Orang-utan Island (Animal Planet), Lone’s talk at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington, covered these issues:

~ rainforest destruction, and the rise in palm oil plantations
~ orang-utans’ loss of habitat, often killed
~ the continued decline of orang-utans at current rates means they may be extinct in a decade
~ the need for sustainable palm oil + protection of the orang-utans’ natural habitat

More:
~ Photos of Lone – Ten Years of NM10
~ Video-clips of Lone’s talk on Ten Years of NM10
~ Borneo Orang-utan Survival website
~ Orangutan Land Trust website

FREE GUIDE: Rainforests – The Burning Issue

This informative, free booklet produced by The Prince’s Trust explains what we can do to save the rainforests before it’s too late.

The Prince of Wales says, “Rainforests provide countless services to humanity, often unnoticed … If we lose the battle against tropical deforestation, we lose the battle against climate change. Please join me in trying to save the rainforests – for the sake of our children and grand-children.”

FREE GUIDE: Rainforests – The Burning Issue
~ Hard copies available from Borders UK, HMV, John Lewis, Waitrose, Waterstones, WH Smith
~ e-booklet here
~ Downloadable Pdf here

SEND YOUR RAINFOREST SOS
Have your voice heard by those who can make change happen: http://www.rainforestsos.org/

Campaigns to stop rainforest destruction

This week’s been a hideous week for natural disasters with an earthquake in Sumatra, an under water quake in the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami around Samoa and American Samoa and Typhoon Ketsana and flooding in the Philippines. Thousands of people are dead or missing.

While we can’t prevent natural disasters, we can stop destroying rainforests and minimise global warming to preserve the wonderful world we live in for future generations.

Here’s a couple of outstanding current projects that are gaining momentum:

Orangutan rescue
Orangutans have lost 90% of their habitat – the rainforest – in the last 20 years. They’re an endangered species, declining at a rate of around 4,000 a year. With a total remaining population of less than 50,000 they could be extinct in just over a decade.

Lone Dröscher-Nielsen and the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) team work tirelessly, campaigning to stop clearing the rainforest for palm oil plantations, rescuing orphaned or ill-treated orangutans (who wouldn’t otherwise be able to survive) and rehabilitating them at the Nyaru Menteng orangutan rescue centre in Borneo, with the intention of releasing them back into the wild.

BBC series’ Orangutan Diary with Michaela Strachan helps raise awareness about Lone and the team’s fight to save the rainforest and rescue orangutans, and has made the Nyaru Menteng centre a household name. Next month, November 2009, is the centre’s tenth anniversary and Lone will be sharing her experiences of the past ten years at The Royal Geographical Society in London, the evening of 19th November.

See the flyer and find out how to attend here. Lone will also be signing copies of her new book, From Forest School to Freedom – Ten Years Saving Orangutans.

Prince’s Rainforest Project:
This campaign by the Prince’s Trust encourages everyone to voice their concerns in a ‘Rainforest SOS message’ and create a climate for change.

Play the message from me and some old croakers, here.

More:
~ Orangutan Diary video clips
~ Orangutan Diary – BBC page
~ Prince’s Rainforests Project
~ Rainforest SOS messages by celebrities