Thanks to Twitter and to the food champion, Rob Ward, (who runs the Honest Labelling campaign) we learn that Birds Eye, whose Roast Chicken Dinner, for example, uses imported meat and is manufactured in Republic of Ireland, has finally dropped its "Great British Menu" label on the package. However it has replaced it with the almost equally misleading word "Traditional". What's more, the pack still has a picture of rolling countryside. Interesting that so many giant manufacturers who make use of foreign imports and intensive methods still exploit consumers' deeply ingrained love of the English countryside and all things natural and traditional in an attempt to mislead them about what they are buying. But this rethink on the part of Birds Eye is a good sign. Buying British and buying local is more and more necessary for the survival of food production in the UK. See more here and on Twitter.

'Systems collapse' is a concept we're getting more used to, together with the feeling that we are not quite the king pins of creation that we once thought. A recent US National Academies' National Research Council report takes very seriously the possibility of extreme space weather events which could so severely damage in the interdependent electric grid that "effects would cascade through other, dependent systems" See food security page for detail and links.
She says that the global agri-chemical companies now seriously threaten the livelihoods of farmers and the environment. She says their efforts have nothing to do with feeding the world; it's for more old-fashioned reasons, the pursuit of power and profit. Capitalism rewards risk but these corporations use their monopolistic power (they own two thirds of the seeds used in agriculture) to limit choice of seeds and people's ability to re-use the seeds for future harvests or conduct further breeding research. Their own risk is transferred to others while they reap the huge profits. "It's really about power, about control."
The GAO study says, "Given the significant limitations in DHS's analyses that we found, the conclusion that FMD (Foot and Mouth Disease) work can be done as safely on the mainland as on Plum Island is not supported."
www.newsday.com quotes congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) who has written to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano:
"This study underscores the validity of why Plum Island was originally chosen. I'm sobered by this report."
localfoodadvisor.com lists over 1000 meat suppliers including all the top award winning producers, farm shops, specialist producers and butchers. Meat includes beef, pork, lamb, cured meats, sausages, etc but excludes game and venison. Consumers can find local farmers' markets, local organic produce and the sort of quality they want by entering their postcode, while farmers who raise high quality produce can apply to get themselves listed on the website. The top 4000 award-winning suppliers in the UK and Ireland - all of whom have won major awards - are listed free. So far, the site is attracting 160,000 visitors a month.