Life is Sweet

As my weekly shop was passing through the checkout this morning, the woman on the till commented on the amount of organic and fair trade products. “I buy all the fair trade items too” she added. I was taken aback. I don’t think I’ve realised how mainstream fair trade has become. Let’s not forget how […]

The Chocolate Challenge

No, it is not a competition to see who can eat the most chocolate biscuits during an episode of Eastenders. Nor who can name the most different types of chocolate bar on our supermarket shelves. Neither is it a pledge to go without chocolate for a whole day.
This week, the Archbishop of York, Dr John […]

Amazing Grace

Before I forget, the organic re-education is still going strong. Less negative comments now by far.
Noticed in Asda today that Billingtons are now producing Fair Trade raw cane sugar from Malawi. A good start.
It reminded me of the scene in “Amazing Grace” where Wilberforce’s wife-to-be is explaining that she converted her friends to fair trade […]

The Great African Scandal

Firstly, just to assure you that Organic Re-education Step One is still progressing: organic chips and organic ketchup went down very well, accompanied by Youngs responsible Pollock nuggets!
I watched The Great African Scandal on Channel Four last night - with the blessed advantage of TVDrive so I could fast forward through all the sections where […]

Ashamed to be white

I’m reading a book at the moment that is making me ashamed to be British. No, it’s not about our national sporting achievements. Nor is it about our holidaymakers on the Costa del Sol.
Actually, to be more accurate, it makes me ashamed to be white. The book is ‘Blood River’ by Tim Butcher, charting the […]

Back to Africa

If the title implies I have already visited Africa, then I’m sorry - it’s more that I’m turning my thoughts back there. I am not one of those people that suffers from wanderlust and feels the need to travel the world, taking in diverse cultures, natural wonders, new experiences….. I have no desire to see […]

The Final Review

Just written all this once and lost it. I hate computers. Writing it again while it is fresh in my mind. Today the gym will have to wait. Thius is my list of tasks to do based on my last few blog entries:

Pond
Shopping
Cereal
Africa
Compost
Cakes

Normally, I write loads of lists. You either do or you don’t. Although […]

Times are a-changing…

Gone are the days when kids like me bought their breakfast cereal on the basis of the tacky plastic figure advertised on the box. I can still recall the anticipation. Of course, I could never wait for it to plop one day without warning into my coco pops. What a day that would have been! […]

Images of Africa

It was a pleasant surprise to open my daughter’s book bag with her at bedtime last night and discover one of the delightful “Handa” series by Eileen Brown. We all love “Handa’s surprise”, where Handa carries a bowl of various fruits on her head to her friend Akeyo in the next village and is in […]