Blog articles from the Action section of The Big Idea

Action

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Farmer Starmer

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The Labour Leader has shown some encouraging interest in farming of late. But, says Colin Tudge, none of the mainstream parties in the UK takes agriculture seriously enough and none has an agricultural strategy that comes close to meeting our own and the world’s real needs  It was good to see Keir Starmer interviewed in … Read more

Eating for Pleasure

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As someone who lives to eat rather than the other way around, I am rather shocked by the rapid rise in serious eating disorders. Summer presents numerous opportunities for making a meal an occasion to remember so lets enjoy them!

Endangered Foods

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Many “endangered” foods are still being grown in people’s gardens, however the commercial sources have become extremely scarce.  The summer months provide an abundance of examples.

Hospitality

Barbequing is the one form of entertaining that seems to be growing in popularity rather than declining. Hospitality seems to come less naturally to us than the Greeks. But can you learn to be a good host?

The philosophy of technology

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Phil of Tech asks what technology is: what it is for; and – as ever – who should be in control of it, and who or what is affected by it. We need to ask indeed, as E F Schumacher did in Small is Beautiful in the early 1970s, what technology is appropriate. As always, … Read more

From story book to cloud cuckoo land one easy step

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George Monbiot’s plan for a world without agriculture is misguided, says Colin Tudge  George Monbiot has a three-point plan to feed us all well and look after the wildlife and generally solve all the world’s problems — a somewhat unlikely amalgam of veganism, re-wilding, and high tech, producing ersatz meat from microbes raised in “compact … Read more

Should we all turn vegetarian?

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Perhaps in a perfect world we should all be vegetarian – or indeed vegan. But, says Colin Tudge, this isn’t a perfect world and a low-meat diet served by agroecological farming is probably the best that we should aim for  Rumour has it that Oxford City Council, following the County Council’s lead of two years … Read more

The absolute importance of “Cryptonutrients” and why “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”

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The following – based on a on a lecture I gave in 1999 at the Royal Society no less – is an example of a “paradigm shift”: one that is now taking the science of nutrition into the realms of microbiology and evolutionary biology.

Rotten Tomatoes

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The parlous state of the British food system was laid bare for all to see, or rather not see, from the empty shelves in supermarkets this February. The loudest complaint concerned lack of tomatoes, but other salad ingredients such as cucumbers and peppers were absent. Why were people expecting to find these things in February?

A step not far enough

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Colin Tudge on a new report from Green Alliance on the future of UK farming.