Summer produce (Jul08)
The weekend wasn’t glorious – certainly not the weather anyway. But I’ve been really enjoying the delicious summer produce, either from my wonderful food delivery service – Somerset Local Food Direct, from my mother’s garden or from our local pick your own. On Saturday night I had 15 people to supper. We started with broad […]
Food ethics, tomatoes and feeding the world (May08)
I’ve been to a lot of food ethics events recently – being a member of the Food Ethics Council (FEC) is keeping me busy! I’ve chaired three of their Business Forum meetings – on food miles, meat consumption and ethical labelling; attended a working group meeting on the conflict between limiting air-freight food and fair […]
Easter Holidays (Apr08)
Snow fights and snow men are unusual activities for an Easter holidays. We’ve managed to fit them in around camping – it wasn’t that cold – Easter egg hunts, a rope assault course, dens, bike rides and a trip to London. Went to see Mamma Mia in the West End. With adaptations of Abba […]
Whole foods (Oct07)
A few years ago I went to a Whole Foods store in New York. This week I visited the London Whole Foods Market, situated on the old Barkers site in Kensington High Street. Rather like a trip to French street markets, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘Why don’t more shops make food […]
Food Advice (Oct07)
In 2007 I was asked by M&S to help them in developing their food strategy, thinking creatively about what innovations they might consider. Clearly, sustainability issues relating to food are becoming increasingly important. And, as M&S says, they may need to think the unthinkable. Topics covered included climate change and food crops, vegetarianism, local sourcing, wild […]
Eco-holidays in Trelowarren (Sep07)
There can’t be many things more exhilarating than surfing – or body boarding to be more precise. Watching the huge waves rolling towards me, I was among a throng of fellow surfers at Polzeath, poised to catch the best roller, so I could skim on its back towards the shore. The wonderful thing about surfing […]
Happy as a pig in mud (Jul07)
The bacon tasted really good. The superior rashers accompanied seared scallops – a first course served by the Royal Oak pub in Bishopstone. I was having dinner with fellow members of the Food Ethics Council after a trip to see Helen Browning’s happy organic pigs. It was their cousins I was eating for dinner. It […]
Supper Party (Apr07)
Eighteen people to supper last Saturday night. Arranged it ages ago because I wanted to make some introductions. It was great fun preparing the mostly home-grown feast on the day, with Alex (our marvellous au pair). The main dish was rabbit casserole with flageolet beans – the rabbits were shot by my neighbouring farmer. They […]
Easter holidays (Apr07)
Juggling Easter holidays with work commitments is a lot easier with an au pair! Alex is Australian and only with me until mid June but she’s wonderful. Had lunch last week with Arthur Llewellyn (www.hfhmanagement.co.uk), who worked with Green Spirit fuels until December last year, promoting bio-ethanol. He introduced me to a nearby pub, the […]
Outside Brussels with P&G (Mar07)
An early start to Bristol airport – dawn arrived as we drove through the outer environs of Cheddar gorge. But weather – I assume fog – delayed my flight to Brussels. Whilst sitting on the floor playing with my upgraded mobile phone (it even has a pedometer), I was greeted by Archie Montgomerie, who I’ve […]