Stirrin' Blog

Sustainability is an important issue 27th February

It is snowing again but the daffodils are almost in bud and the garden is full of snowdrops, aconites and scillas. Global warming - in family terms I equate this with three proficient skiers who learned to ski at Glenshee (in Scotland, 2 hours from home) and three younger children who have rarely been up the Glas Maol. Sustainability is an important issue. We are beginning to hear lots of talk about ‘food miles’ – or the cost (including in pollution) of transporting food from the fields all the way to your plate. Perhaps we should buy local but buying flowers and food from poorer countries, does help the people there who may have no other jobs. ‘FAIRTRADE’ is a growing movement, which ensures that farmers who live in poorer countries get a fair deal for the things that they grow. It is about reducing poverty in the third world. The income from exporting (selling things to us) is very important to Sub Saharan Africa. Demonstrations over the next fortnight will use as many ‘FAIRTRADE’ products as possible. Check out www.fairtrade.org.uk for a list of products.
There are even ‘FAIRTRADE’ snack bars and the food co-operative Suma, who kindly sponsor the store cupboard ingredients for Stirrin’Stuff’s school demonstrations, has lots of ‘FAIRTRADE’ products. The entire Co-op ‘own brand’ block chocolate range is now ‘FAIRTRADE’.

Stirrin’Stuff likes to encourage healthy eating but ‘FAIRTRADE’ is about ‘healthy’ shopping. Don’t overdo the chocolate!

I will be at a children’s cooking day, in the Aga shop in Perth on March 10th, where we will use ‘FAIRTRADE’ products, and cook up some healthy recipes too. Here is a link reporting on a youth club demonstration and we are off to do another one today.

Stirrin’Stuff supports the Food Standards Agency (FSA) ‘traffic light’ food labelling scheme. It is a clear, no-nonsense system. We think that the Guideline Daily Allowance (GDA) is just a bit too tricky for a busy shopper to decipher at a glance.