Sustain has recently launched the Real Bread Campaign. The website has a fantastic map which you can use to locate real bread producers in your area (or add your own bakery!). Brilliant. There's also lots of information on there about what real bread is and why we should be eating it including what is wrong with industrially produced bread. This campaign is not about making it easier for a few people to have the luxury of going out to buy fancy artisan bread. Bread is a fundamental part of our diet, three quarters of all people have it as part of their diet every day, and as such it is vitally important that the bread we eat is good for us. Industrial milling breaks the grains down in a way that destroys many of it's nutritional qualities, so much so that vitamins have to be added back into the mix by law. These re-added vitamins are more difficult (or impossible?) for our bodies to take in than those that were originally naturally present but that the industrial process has removed. Other aspects of the way most bread is produced makes it all but impossible for some people to digest properly. There's ...

Just watched an excellent documentary about peak oil and it's implications for the future of farming in the UK. It is the first I've seen of it's kind to be shown on TV and hopefully it leads the way for many more as we begin to wake up to the coming crisis. Presented by Rebecca Hosking it goes through all the key points in a clear and concise way, opening with the lines, "An approaching energy crisis will likely force a revolution in farming that will change the British countryside forever. It will effect what we eat, where it comes from and even the alarming question of whether there will be enough food to keep us fed." From an interview with a geologist comes the conclusion that what matters is not the exact timing of the peak, but that whether it is in 1, 5 or 10 years there will be a peak in the production of oil after which oil will become more difficult to extract, more expensive and that this will have huge implications for every aspect of our lives. She uses a simple example of a ham sandwich. The oil needed to power the tractors to plough ...

It has been our staple breakfast meal for the last 2 months. It would be a lie to say that we had eaten it every day, but I recon over the last 2 months we must have eaten this dish at least 40 times! Crazy. And we never got bored of it. In fact after only a few days in Cambodia we've found ourselves desperately hunting down an authentic Vietnamese Pho. Each place has it's own little variation on the dish, but the essential base is always the same. Flat rice noodles are heated in a big pan of boiling water and then popped in a bowl with some stock and sprinkled with chopped spring onion (or "onion leaf" - maybe chives?). The bowl is brought to your table along with a side plate of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, limes and chilis for you to add to taste. Amazing! It becomes a bit of a ritual. Before the bowl arrives you start picking the leaves off the herbs ready to drop into the soup when it arrives. Then it's time to stir in a few bean sprouts, maybe a squeeze of lime, a dash of chili and then you're off. It ...

A trip in a small boat to the floating markets of Cai Rang on the Mekong Delta was to provide the setting for the next of our adventures in fruit (WOOP! Just realised what I have just written - how cool this trip is!!) . These markets are incredible. The river was buzzing with life. Hundreds of boats gather piled high with produce from pumpkins and cucumbers to star apples and jackfruit. Each boat has a pole with a sample of the boat's wares tied up high so it can be seen from afar. We spent some time drifting wide eyed through the boats. We hired a guide to come with us so we could ask any questions as we were bobbing along. He told us a lot of the people lived on the boats. As we looked we noticed some were set up barge stylee with pot plants and deck chairs. I'm sure it's not all quite the jolly boating holiday though. These people have little money and live very simple lives. To me on a visit this traditional way of life that has gone on for hundreds of years seems like a beautiful treasure to cling on to. But it is ...

Just in time for Easter, Egg But has gone all eggy. Be warned though, this is no quick peek while the boss isn't looking post. It demands attention. It's more of a magazine, only it's printed on one long piece of none existent piece of paper. I suggest you print it off, take it home and sit and read it with a lovely cup of tea and a dippy egg. Origins of Easter. You all know about the Christian version of the celebration of Easter, so I don't need to tell you about that. I also probably don't really need to ramble on about the over commercialisation of Easter and the ridiculous amount of chocolate eggs that appear on sale soon after Christmas. Instead I'll talk about what we used to do before Christian times, the original origin of Easter. Eastre was the goddess of spring and fertility. A month equivalent to April was named after her and feasts were held throughout the month to honour her. At the first full moon after the vernal equinox (which is today!) there would be a special celebration. Eggs, a symbol of fertility and nature reborn, were painted brightly to represent the sunlight of spring and ...