Slow Food UK - You ask, they answer

Interesting Q&A from Slow Food UK this week on the Guardian's Green Living blog. I managed to sneak in a research-related question about new farmers at the top.

Go here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jun/28/you-ask-slow-food

'People really like the things I grow, and it's a good example of how small-scale farming can feed communities.'

This article is a couple years old but somehow it popped up in my Google News Alerts this morning. Anyway, it's the first time I've seen it and thought it was an inspiring story, a good example of how a knowledge of food production can help to overcome other social and economic disadvantages.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/25/ethiopia-international-aid-and-development

Vote Bee!

For those of you outside the UK, perhaps a very short preamble is needed. Since full jackpot wins on the National Lottery are relatively rare, the money earned from ticket purchases but not distributed in payouts is distributed to various arts, science, health, education and community projects. Some initiatives can receive extra funding through the annual 'Good Causes Awards', which are voted on by the public.

I'd like to encourage everyone to vote (you can do this even outside the UK) for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's application for £49,000. As many of you will already be aware, we face a very serious ecological threat from declining bee populations. While the science of colony collapse disorder is still developing and full of uncertainties, the need to protect bee species and habitats is urgent. Bees are the most efficient pollinators we have, making both managed agriculture and fragile wild ecosystems dependent on their continuing work.

Please vote for the Bee Conservation Trust's important project here.