Rob on September 23rd, 2011

It seems that the global financial crisis has reached a new peak this week, what with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank using words like ‘dangerous’ to describe the current situation.  Dangerous for whom, we must ask.  I would suggest that it is the bankers and parasitic high rollers of the money markets [...]

Continue reading about Money in the Hall of Mirrors

Rob on September 19th, 2011

We haven’t been to Abergavenny Food Festival for three years now but, on a whim and a relatively quiet weekend, we drove over on Saturday just to wander around the town and take in the atmosphere. The first thing we noticed was how the festival has spread around the town since we were last there.  [...]

Continue reading about A Pause for Thought in Abergavenny

Rob on September 6th, 2011

Among the many fine presents I was given this week by way of celebration of yet another birthday was a bottle of Bruichladdich organic Islay malt whisky.  Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that the concept of organic whisky might simply be a clever marketing gimmick, unless one were to read what it says on [...]

Continue reading about A new take on the Water of Life

Rob on September 4th, 2011

On 24th March 2011, I talked about the cooking of chickpeas, but things have moved on.  Around that time, Sally and I transferred into a large pot on the patio three little plants that we had grown from seed in the greenhouse.  Out of a batch of six chickpeas planted into seed pots, three of [...]

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Rob on September 3rd, 2011

The Breakdown of Nations by Leopold Kohr; The Limits to Growth by Donatella Meadows et al; Small is Beautiful by E F Schumacher – these books, published in 1957, 1972 and 1973 respectively, spelled out for us the fate that would befall our species if we did not develop a strategy for positive change.  We [...]

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Rob on September 1st, 2011

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a something of a hero in my eyes.  Ever since the tousled toff first appeared on our screens tramping around in his wellies in the original River Cottage garden, I have admired his stance on how our food should be produced.  From those humble beginnings, he has moved on to tackle issues [...]

Continue reading about The Politics of Vegetarianism