diet or exercise?

The world is getting overweight:

More than half of humans on track to be overweight or obese by 2035 – report | Obesity | The Guardian

But is the problem what we eat?

The War on Obesity Heats Up: Big Food Drives Problem, Big Pharma Cashes In By Solving It - Global Wellness Institute

Research reveals big food companies rely on profiting from children’s health | School Food Matters

Big food companies must be held to account in obesity crisis | Obesity | The Guardian

Or is it a problem of our lifestyle?

Lifestyle Changes to Prevent a Heart Attack | American Heart Association

Basic rules for screen time at a young age can help reduce childhood obesity – new research • City St George's, University of London

There are lots of scientific papers being produced!

Association of Healthy Lifestyle Factors and Obesity-Related Diseases in Adults in the UK - PMC

Frontiers | Classification of overweight/obesity among Saudi adolescents relative to lifestyle behaviors using the IOTF or WHO reference standards

There is new research just out:

It has often been said that a sedentary lifestyle may lead to obesity. However, new research in a wide range of populations suggests that excessive energy intake, rather than a lack of activity, is the main driver of weight gain. A new study, is published in PNAS, suggests that the high rates of obesity associated with economic development are most likely caused by a high calorie diet containing a large proportion of ultra-processed foods.

Weight loss: Is diet or exercise more important?

A recent study suggests that what you eat—not how much you move—may be more important for managing weight.

Does Diet or Exercise Drive Obesity? New Research Weighs In

Is United States showing us all the future of our food?

The cereal aisle of our local supermarket in the suburbs of Washington DC is a place of both joy and pain for my family. Joy for my two sons, who run up and down marvelling at the colourful boxes emblazoned with cartoon characters who promise eruptions of sweet wonder within. But pain for me as I wince at ingredients lists packed with sugar, chemicals I can’t pronounce, and food additives that are either heavily regulated or banned in Europe.

America’s rotten food culture - The New World

It's all about ultra-processed food!

What are processed foods? Experts break down their impact on health

Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for you... study reveals the eight that actually make you healthier | Daily Mail Online

Ultra-Processed Foods Could Sabotage Weight Loss, Even on a 'Healthy' Diet : ScienceAlert

Kids' 'healthy' snacks that are secretly harming them, according to a gut health specialist | HELLO!

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umami taste

The subject of 'tastes' can make for a good lesson or two - at all levels:

80 Taste English ESL worksheets pdf & doc

ESL Food and Taste Activity Sheet [Teens, A2-B1] - Twinkl

Amazing world of food: Lesson 4: Our sense of taste | Lesson | Onestopenglish

Tastes | Learning English | Cambridge English

There are more than the tastes of sweet, sour, salty and bitter:

Umami has been variously translated from Japanese as yummy, deliciousness or a pleasant savoury taste, and was coined in 1908 by a chemist at Tokyo University called Kikunae Ikeda. He had noticed this particular taste in asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat, but it was strongest in dashi – that rich stock made from kombu (kelp) which is widely used as a flavour base in Japanese cooking. So he homed in on kombu, eventually pinpointing glutamate, an amino acid, as the source of savoury wonder. He then learned how to produce it in industrial quantities and patented the notorious flavour enhancer MSG.

Umami: why the fifth taste is so important | Food | The Guardian

What is Umami? | Everything about umami | Umami | The Ajinomoto Group Global Website - Eat Well, Live Well.

And apparently there is another taste!

8 Things To Know About Kokumi, The 'Sixth Taste'

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would you eat people....

The science fiction film 'Soylent Green'...

This story is part of The Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Sustainability Issue (click here to read more).In 1970, 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day. One of the more alarming predictions that day was from Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich, who foresaw a future in which “population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make,” resulting in the starvation death of hundreds of millions.Hollywood took notice and released a string of eco-disaster films in the years to follow.

Soylent Green Food Twist: A Planet With Too Many People, a Dark Secret – The Hollywood Reporter

By 2022,[3] the cumulative effects of overpopulation and pollution have caused ecocide, leading to severe worldwide shortages of food, water, and housing.[4] New York City has a population of 40 million, and only the elite can afford spacious apartments, clean water, and natural food. The homes of the elite are fortified, with security systems and bodyguards for their tenants. Usually, they include concubines (who are referred to—and used as—"furniture"). The poor live in squalor, haul water from communal spigots, and eat highly processed wafers: Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow, and the latest product, far more flavorful and nutritious, Soylent Green.

Soylent Green - Wikipedia

Soylent Green (1973) Official Trailer - Charlton Heston, Edward G Robinson Movie HD - YouTube

The new documentary 'The British Meat Miracle'...

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat - Final Trailer - YouTube

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat begins in the usual way – with me reaching for the volume button, checking the running time (only half an hour – hurrah!) and wondering, yet again, why this man is shouting at me. This time it is about “THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS! NOW IT COSTS A PACKET JUST TO BRING HOME THE BACON! AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON EGGS!”

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat review – this look at eating human flesh is a total curveball | Television | The Guardian

There is only one solution to the plethora of cookery programmes cluttering up the TV schedules, and that’s to eat Gregg Wallace

Multicultural Man: On Gregg Wallace - The New European

And more...

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat fake documentary about eating human meat bamboozles Channel 4 viewers | The Independent

Here it is:

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat | Channel 4 - YouTube

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brexit: and fishing rights... and selling fish

We are nearing the end-game in the final Brexit talks - and fishing is the key issue:

EU vows 'final push' in UK trade talks but fish rift threatens deal | Reuters

Rifts over fishing narrow in EU-UK talks

The fishing community voted overwhelmingly to leave:

Futures Forum: Brexit: and Fishing for Leave

It's always been an emotional issue:

France remains tough: An emotional dispute over fish could burst a Brexit deal - Brexit explained - YouTube

Brexit: The UK and EU both need to put aside emotion and cut a deal

But it's not just a question of catching fish - but also selling them.

And the problem is that the British prefer steak to shellfish, and this has been known for some time - as reported back in August 2018:

The problem is complicated by the fact that much of what these men catch is exported back to Europe. From the 90 lobster pots and 300 whelk pots that Harvey has laboriously hauled to the surface that morning, some of the catch will get to London but the rest is either too expensive or out of step with local taste to find a British market.

“I don’t eat them,” admits his brother Chris as they pick over a bucket of whelks, which are said to taste of rubber if you don’t cook them right. With lobsters fetching a tenner each on the quayside and up to £50-£60 by the time they reach London restaurants, Chris says he prefers a steak if he wants to treat the family.

This makes walking away from the EU without a deal for ongoing access to its consumer markets another worry for what is left of the British industry.

Some would still like to see UK fishing cut loose regardless. A rebalancing of British consumer tastes away from imported white fish and toward shellfish and other locally-caught produce could yet see this cottage industry grow into an artisanal success story.

'We have been hijacked': fishermen feel used over Brexit | Politics | The Guardian

Futures Forum: Brexit: and fishing rights >>>> "When Britain first joined the EU, the wholesale sell-out was a British choice – not an EU dictat."

Futures Forum: Brexit: and exporting shellfish from Brixham

Most fish caught in British waters is sold to the EU - and this was pointed out back in 2016, soon after the referendum and years before the current 'last minute' talks on fish:

EU trade is 'key' to success of UK fish industry as 75% of home-caught fish is exported - and majority of fish eaten by Britons is imported

Britons will have to eat more home-caught mackerels and fewer imported prawns if the Government fails to agree a favourable trade deal for the fishing industry with the EU following Brexit.

A parliamentary report published today has found that some 75 per cent of fish caught in the UK is exported, mostly to the European Union, while the majority of fish eaten in the UK is imported.

For this reason, it argued that trade agreements with the EU ‘will be a key factor to the future success of the UK fishing industry and fish processors’.

EU trade 'key' to success of UK fish industry as 75% of home-caught fish is exported | This is Money

Brixham also exports most of its fish to the EU:

Brixham is England’s top fishing harbour by value of catch landed. The port has almost doubled the value of landings, from £22million three years ago to £40million in 2017 – mostly on the back of a booming cuttlefish fishery.

About 90% of the cuttlefish is exported to EU countries.

Mr Marsden is vice chair of the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and a board member of the Marine Conservation Society.“What happens if we ‘fall off a cliff’ and don’t get a trade deal?” he said. “This market thrives as the moment because it’s able to move fast and transport the fish within hours from here to the end destination. If that can’t happen, it would be very serious for Brixham.”

But Jim Portus, chief executive of the South Western Fish Producers Organisation, said: “I believe we’ll end up with a deal with our European colleagues because they also want frictionless trade into the UK.

Brexit could leave fish rotting on the quayside - Devon Live

Brixham is England's most valuable fishing port - Devon Live

And all other UK shell-fish ports also need the EU markets - as with this piece from the weekend:

Shell shocked: 'Lobster capital' braces for Brexit - BBC News

Finally, deal or no deal, 'British' fishing communities won't win:

Brexit news: UK fishing rights will remain 'in hands of millionaires and multinationals' | UK | News | Express.co.uk

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supermarket secrets

Why do we buy what we buy?

Jay Doubleyou: the men who made us spend

Jay Doubleyou: the men who made us spend: part two

Jay Doubleyou: the men who made us spend: part three

The BBC has a long-running series:

The series shows how British supermarkets make and move the food they sell.

Supermarket Secrets - Wikipedia

Gregg Wallace gets the inside track on the latest tactics in the supermarket wars to help people stay one step ahead.

BBC One - Supermarket Secrets

With a few clips:

Eye movements Spring's Supermarket Secrets

How do supermarkets ensure there are no cracks in the eggs they sell? Spring's Supermarket Secrets

Fooling the daffodils Spring's Supermarket Secrets

Trolley Engineering Christmas Supermarket Secrets

Giant Wine Bags Christmas Supermarket Secrets

Christmas Food Frenzy Christmas Supermarket Secrets

Here's his blog:
BBC Blogs - TV blog - Supermarket Secrets: Feeding a nation

And here are a couple of videos:

Supermarket Secrets - Episode 1 - Summer - video dailymotion

BBC supermarket secrets May 2019 - YouTube

And something on another channel:

How and what we eat has radically changed over the past few decades with the all-consuming rise of the supermarket. But what price are we paying for the homogenized, cheap and convenient food that supermarkets specialise in? 

In a two-part programme, journalist Jane Moore investigates how supermarkets have affected the food on our plates and reveals the tell-tale signs that the food we buy may not have been grown in the way we think. 

Using a combination of undercover filming and scientific analysis, Supermarket Secrets investigates whether the food on supermarket shelves is really as good as it looks, whether prices are as good as they seem and what happens behind the scenes in the production of supermarket food. 

This documentry is in two parts. This first part deals with Factory Farming, chickens, and general quality of supermarket food. The second part deals with Cows milk, food standards, food waste, pesticides, food globalization, and loss of quality of our produce. A very important watch for everyone, gives you facts about the meat and food you eat. After watching you will have more of an understanding of the rational behind Vegetarian, Vegan, Organic, and grass-root eating practices.

Supermarket secrets part 1 - YouTube
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veganized idioms

Does this make sense?
Stop bringing home the bacon (to make idioms vegan-friendly) | News | The Times
Veganized idioms : vegan

From the London Evening Standard:

Phrases such as 'bringing home the bacon' will be phased out as veganism awareness grows, academic claims

BONNIE CHRISTIAN
1 day ago
1 comment

The Evening Standard

Bring home the bacon or the bagels? Meat-based idioms could be replaced by animal friendly versions ( Shutterstock / DronG )

Phrases such as "bringing home the bacon" and "flogging a dead horse" will be phased out as awareness of veganism grows, an academic has claimed.

An academic claims the the rise in veganism could cause idioms involving meat and dairy products or animal cruelty to be replaced by more "animal friendly" versions.

Common phrases such as "flogging a dead horse" or "more than one way to skin a cat" have been used in English speech and literature for centuries.

But, Shareena Hamzah, a researcher at Swansea University, predicts this will change as conversation grows around veganissues, animal cruelty, and the impact of a high demand for meat on the environment.

Animal rights charity Peta already advocates cruelty-free verbal swaps for use in schools.

For instance, they recommend “bring home the bacon” be swapped with “bring home the bagels” or “put all your eggs in one basket” be swapped with “put all your berries in one bowl.”

In an article published on The Conversation, Dr Hazmah wrote it was unlikely meat-based phrases would be cut from language altogether and using meat-based phrases more sparingly could have the effect of heightening their impact.

"Metaphors involving meat could gain an increased intensity if the killing of animals for food becomes less socially acceptable," she said.

“The image of “killing two birds with one stone” is, if anything, made more powerful by the animal friendly alternative of "feeding two birds with one scone".

She wrote language takes a long time to change so common use of vegan-friendly phrases could be a while away.

“Who is to say that even those who choose a vegan or vegetarian diet even want to do away with the meaty descriptions?” she wrote.

Phrases such as 'bringing home the bacon' will be phased out as veganism awareness grows, academic claims | London Evening Standard
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the tip of the iceberg lettuce

Public Radio International looks at food issues in the UK:

Why the shortage of veggies in UK shops? Lettuce find out.

PRI's The World

February 03, 2017 · 4:30 PM EST

Iceberg lettuces are seen next to a sign requesting that customers limit their purchase in a supermarket, in London, on Feb. 3, 2017.

Credit: 

Peter Nicholls/Reuters

First it was the zucchinis.  

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Then the iceberg lettuce. 

Then even the satsumas, those small mandarin oranges. 

That's when The World's reporter in London, Leo Hornak, says he really got hungry: "I'm at the epicenter of a zucchini famine. An iceberg lettuce drought."    

Britain is in the middle of a vegetable crisis due to poor growing conditions in southern Europe, where many of these vegetables are cultivated during the winter months.  

A combination of flooding, storms and frost have damaged crops in southern Spain, which supplies half the vegetables throughout Europe. 

Some of the UK's largest supermarkets have rationed the amount of iceberg lettuce shoppers can buy. 

"You cannot buy more than three iceberg lettuce[s] at once. And everything from eggplant to celery to cucumbers to artichokes, even broccoli have been affected by this."  

It's like a throwback to WWII, when Britons were forced to ration their food. 

Suppliers have warned that if the weather does not improve in coming weeks, the shortage may continue through March — meaning customers could be hit with higher prices for the produce. 

Add to that anxiety about the expected fallout from Brexit, when Britain withdraws from the European Union. 

"Although this [shortage] is attributed directly to the weather, it could be a taste for the future," Hornak says. "In Britain, we're used to having free trade with the rest of Europe, that's the basic privilege we have as part of the European Union. But, no one knows what the conditions for trade will be when Britain leaves the European Union. So, I think people are worried that this could be a forewarning of what we should get used to." 

While you are here...

Why the shortage of veggies in UK shops? Lettuce find out. | Public Radio International
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speciesism

Have you heard of this?

The ethics of speciesism

What is speciesism?

'Speciesism' is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals.

...a prejudice or bias in favour of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species.

Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, 1975

Speciesism and bigotry

Speciesism is often condemned as the same sort of bigotry as racism or sexism.

People who oppose speciesiesm say that giving human beings greater rights than non-human animals is as arbitrary (and as morally wrong) as giving white people greater rights than non-white people.

NB: Those working for racial or sexual equality often find this comparison insulting - they say that their struggle for equality has a moral and social importance that animal rights can never have.

Speciesism is common

Most people, faced with a difficult choice between a human and an animal, would probably react in a speciesist (or 'homocentric') way.

Consider this example:

A child and a dog are trapped in a fire. You can only save one of them. Which will you save?

• Most people don't have to think about this for even one second.
• Most people don't consider the relative moral status of the dog and the child relevant to their choice.
• Society would condemn anyone who delayed in order to consider the correct moral choice.

Pure speciesism

Pure speciesism carries the idea of human superiority to the extreme of saying that the most trivial human wish is more important that the vital needs of other species... for example a pure speciesist would argue that it's ok for animals to be cruelly treated and killed to provide fur decorations for human beings to wear.

Few people take speciesism to this length. More commonly, they say that all other things being more or less equal, it's morally correct to take the human side when considering an ethical issue.

Species is not a moral factor

People who object to speciesism say that a difference of species is not a morally relevant difference - in the same way that a difference of race is not a morally relevant difference between human beings.

They say that speciesism amounts to treating morally similar individuals in morally different ways for an irrelevant reason.

Justifying speciesism

Supporters of speciesism say that there is a clear difference between humans and other species, and that this difference affects their moral status.

They argue that human beings are more self-aware, and more able to choose their own course of action than other animals. This, they say, enables them to think and act morally, and so entitles them to a higher moral status.

But the argument that there are morally relevant differences between human animals and non-human animals is not a speciesist argument, since the argument is about the particular characteristics that are being put forward to justify the different moral status of human and non-human animals.

Speciesism as 'natural'

One argument in favour of speciesism is that it is biologically natural to treat one's own species favourably. Virtually all non-human animals treat members of their own species better than those of other species.

BBC - Ethics - Animal ethics: The ethics of speciesism


And there's a film out.
Is this a little ''extreme'?
It certainly provokes some discussion:



"Speciesism: The Movie" - Official Trailer - A New Species of Documentary, by Mark Devries, 2013 - YouTube
Speciesism: The Movie - Official Website
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describing processes

There's a lot of good stuff to describe processes:
Jay Doubleyou: processes and procedures

And:

Making an omlette:
BBC World Service | Learning English | How To


BBC How to... describe a process (transcript video) - YouTube

Manufacuring:
The EFL SMARTblog: Making Potato Chips - IELTS Describing a process / Passive

Waking up in the morning:
https://eslrightnow.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/english-for-engineering-describing-a-process.pdf

Stopping a burglar:
Main

Decorating a Christmas Tree:
bwernervocalise.edublogs.org/files/2013/06/ESL-Worksheet-Describing-a-Process-How-to-Decorate-an-X-mas-Tree-1zda4bz.pdf

Getting ready for your IELTS exam:
Diagrams, Maps & Processes | aquascript &c.
IELTS Process Diagram Explained

Improving your memory:
Process Description - Vocabulary Lesson Focusing on Describing Processes
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drink tea

The British do like their cuppa:
Jay Doubleyou: english icons
Jay Doubleyou: english traditions which aren't english...

And there are some very established blogs devoted to the drug:
Nice cup of tea and a sit down
5 Tea Blogs We Love
T Ching | Discover Tea | Blog Home

But it's the Dutch who tell us it's good for us:

Drink five cups of tea a day, Dutch health council says

The Health Council of the Netherlands published new guidelines recommending that people drink between three and five brews each day

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Tea should be drunk preferably without milk and definitely without sugar 

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Incessant tea drinking has long been the preserve of the British, second only to tap water as the nations’ most popular beverage.

But it appears our continental cousins are catching up.

Official health guidelines in the Netherlands - where school children as young as four are already served tea as a lunch time drink - are for the first time encouraging adults to indulge in regular cups of tea.

The Health Council of the Netherlands, an independent scientific body that advises parliament, this week published new guidelines recommending that people drink between three and five brews each day.

Green tea has been lauded for its health benefits  Photo: Jonathan Buckley"We noted that in the scientific literature in the last 10 years, there are clear signs that drinking tea is good for your health,” said Eert Schoten, a spokesman for the health council.

“Three to five cups a day reduce blood pressure, diabetes and stroke risks, so this comes as one of our 16 guidelines.”

The guidelines state that the tea must been green or black; rooibos and other herbal teas do not count.

The growth of fruit and herbal teas has come at the expense of standard tea, which has dropped heavily in demand, say experts.   Photo: Alamy

Dutch children are also encouraged to drink tea. At leading schools, such as the Theo Thijssenschool in central Amsterdam, youngsters from the age of four are offered milky tea as a lunchtime drink.

There are several brands of herbal tea that especially marketed for children in the Netherlands, such as “Dragonfire”, a blend including elderflower, ginger, peppermint and licorice. The Dutch brand Pyramide has four types of “kinder thee”, complete with cartoon character packaging.

Tim Bond, a member of the Tea Advisory Panel said that the Dutch guidance is "in keeping with what we would advocate".

"Three to five cups of tea are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke"

Tim Bond, a member of the Tea Advisory Panel

"A number of recent studies looking at long term drinking habits have indicated that 3-5 cups of tea are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke," he said.

"Other studies in the short term looking at risk factors also agree that daily tea consumption in this range are likely to have a positive impact on heart heath."

Earlier this year, doctors warned of the hidden dangers of green tea after a teenage girl who drank three cups a day for three months contracted acute hepatitis.

The 16-year-old girl had ordered two boxes of Chinese green tea online, and drank three cups a day for three months.

Doctors identified green tea as the “causative agent” of the girl’s hepatitis, and ordered her to stop drinking it immediately.

• The end of the tea break? Workers fear boss thinks they are slacking

Authors of a report about the case, published in the British Medical Journal, said infections developing as a result of excessive herbal tea drinking were a “rare but recurring theme”.

Green tea, which is rich in a depression-fighting animo acid called theanine,has previously been lauded for its health benefits.

It has been suggested that its antioxidants help with breast, lung and stomach cancers. It has also been claimed that a cup can protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s and improve cholesterol levels.

• Is Britain falling out of love with tea?

Drink five cups of tea a day, Dutch health council says - Telegraph
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waste

local schemes:
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Hotels
Futures Forum: Otter Brewery
Futures Forum: SVEAG: an anaerobic digestion project
Futures Forum: Fish Fight
Futures Forum: Otter Rotters: Stop community composting being crippled by disproportionate government agency fees
Futures Forum: Recycling plastics in East Devon: meeting in Honiton: report
Futures Forum: "New state of the art recycling centre for Sidmouth area"
Futures Forum: Big belly bins come to Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Sidmouth and sewage
Futures Forum: Exeter's Materials Recovery Facility: "waste as a saleable commodity"
Futures Forum: "Getting the most from waste in Devon"

general issues:
Futures Forum: Recycling plastics in England: 5p per bag
Futures Forum: The End of Plastic
Futures Forum: District heating systems run on waste... from Scandanavia
Futures Forum: What are the most efficient forms of energy? ... It might not be just a question of how to generate power the best way ... By 2026 100% of German houses will be zero energy consumers. In the UK it will be under 5%.
Futures Forum: The plastics industry is "incredibly supportive of recycling legislation over a more long-term… reduction of disposable culture."
Futures Forum: The Story of Stuff: "You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely"
Futures Forum: The techno-fix ... Can we engineer our way out of environmental catastrophe? Or .......... Can we 'design for the real world'?
Futures Forum: The alternatives to plastic
Futures Forum: Peak oil, peak soil, peak water... peak everything
Futures Forum: Slavoj Žižek: on there being "no metaphysical 'beyond' to put our waste" ..... on "the crisis of late capitalism" ..... and on "the comforting mythology of the recycling industry."
Futures Forum: Sustainable food production and consumption
Futures Forum: How sustainable is the construction industry? ... 'Concrete is responsible for 7-10% of CO2 emissions' ... 'The industry must shift its emphasis beyond recycling and towards reuse'
Futures Forum: "The greenest building is the one standing" >>>>>>>>> Why do developers prefer to demolish buildings than renovate them?
Futures Forum: The Water, Energy and Food Nexus
Futures Forum: Planned Obsolescence: and The Men Who Made Us Spend
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