Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

Moshi Moshi support sustainable fishing (Jun18)

I first came across Moshi Moshi over a decade ago. A Japanese restaurant run by Caroline Bennett, they’re at the forefront of restaurants supporting sustainable fish.  My husband, Jamie Macdonald, has recently co-invested in an artisan fishing trawler with Nick Fisher, who co-wrote the Fish Cook Book with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  One of their first commercial […]

Christmas cringe over disposable baking tray (Dec16)

 Sometimes you hear something on the radio which makes you cringe.  Just before Christmas this happened… A woman rang the radio programme to say that something dreadful had happened.  What calamity could this be?  It was that she’d forgotten to buy a disposable baking tray for roasting the  Christmas turkey… Aaaargh… Even more sickening to […]

Is Rick Stein’s fish sustainably sourced? (Sep09)

Last weekend I went to Padstow. This fishing port is best known for its association with Rick Stein, who appears to own half of the businesses in the town from his eponymous restaurant, fish & chip shop and deli to a local pub, bistro and patisserie. Predictably there was no space for a last minute […]

An inconvenient truth about fish – The End of the Line (Jun09)

A fish collapse. 90% of the big fish are gone. The global fishing capacity is big enough to catch four times more fish than actually exist in the sea. We’ve just squandered one of the greatest resources on the planet – wild fish. The End of the Line leaves one in no doubt about the […]

Yo Sushi is Wasteful (Dec08)

It’s a shame there’s not a Yo Sushi at Waterloo because that’s my regular train station and I’m a fan. If I’m going through Paddington I often perch on one of their stools and help myself to something exciting from the conveyor belt – and at airports too. If you’re interested, it’s not too difficult […]

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 […]

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 […]

Gay Times – I interviewed Paul O’Grady – aka Lily Savage (Sep07)

“I’ve never known anyone make so much fuss about three light bulbs” Paul said as we laughed uproariously in his kitchen.  I’d pointed out that there were more lights in just half his kitchen than Peter Tatchell had in his whole flat.  Then I saw more lighting above the aga.  “Only one” Paul says.  So I peered underneath the mantel and discovered there were three!

A McDonald’s experience (Apr07)

I thought I’d do a bit of comparison on fuel efficiency between the UK and the US. Went to Heathrow in an 8-seater vehicle – it was on its way to collect a large group. But at 36mpg even that was less thirsty than the flashy black Lincoln that collected me from Chicago’s O’Hare airport […]

Some thoughts – Fish, John Travolta, Home grown, Standby TVs (Apr07)

Eco-hypocrite I think that having 5 private jets and an airport in your garden really does preclude you from encouraging people to do their bit for the environment. John Travolta’s carbon footprint is apparently around 800 tons a year, which is about 100 times more than the average Brit. But he claims to be concerned […]

London Meetings – (Mar07)

For the only time this week I managed to lie in. Then found a man at Luxembourg airport who I hoped would help me access Wifi for the first time with my new tablet laptop (I bought it on Ebay). But it seems I haven’t set the computer up properly, so won’t be able to […]

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 […]