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 […]

How good is my re-usable bamboo cup? (Jun18)

I’ve found a re-usable cup I really like.  It’s made from bamboo, is quite colourful and has a really good lid that stops the liquid from spilling.  My previous versions had lids that fell off, which made them pretty useless for coffee on the move. Bamboo has become a bit of a thing.  When I […]

Future of Food Ethics (Jun18)

It’s eight years ago since I stepped down from the Food Ethics Council, but I still knew quite a few faces at their 20 year event, held in London this week. I was particularly intrigued by one man who had moved on from being a chef to selling goats meat.He wasn’t impressed that the goat’s […]

Speech disaster to Bathroom Manufacturers… (Oct16)

My speech went down the plug hole! I spent ages preparing my speech.  Had an inspirational idea on how to pull it together.  And, I thought it was pretty good on the day!  But apparently the audience – at least most of them – were not so impressed.  And the Bathroom Manufacturer’s Association – the […]

Feeling guilty about Lidl lobsters (Nov14)

We bought a couple of lobsters from Lidl for £5.99 each and had them for supper.  They weren’t particularly good despite getting the top rating for ‘cheap supermarket lobsters’.  And, even worse, they were tiny. I’ve looked up the sustainability of small lobsters and see that it’s definitely not recommended.  They should be thrown back […]

Speaking in Istanbul (Oct12)

My second speaking engagement in Istanbul.  I was invited to speak at Green Business Turkey 2012.  The brilliant thing about this is that the event showed that many Turkish businesses are showing a real interest in sustainability issues.  With over 500 delegates it was an ambitious event, aiming to help the audience understand what environmental […]

Second Nature Advisory Board (Oct12)

I sit on the Advisory board of Second Nature – their mission is making sustainability ‘second nature’ for the organisations they work with.  Charles Perry and Mark Griffiths are the company’s founders – and they have a lot of experience between them, with particular emphasis on business strategy  and expertise in energy, built-environment, clean tech […]

Women in Action (Sep12)

Melinda Watson and I travelled to Corby, not knowing what to expect for the Women in Action event, organised by Planet Aid.  We arrived to music and a fashion show – promoting recycled clothes.  Melinda was the first to take the platform.  She talked about the illegal export of e-waste and its impact on developing […]

Skydiving to raise money for Haller (Jun12)

Not me!  My son is planning a sky dive to support Haller.   He will be free falling at 130 miles per hour from 10,000 feet.  I’m glad it’s not me.   Haller is a charity that I co-founded – it supports sustainable communities in Africa, with programmes in water, farming, education, health, alternative energy […]