Your thoughts on digital dialogue tools

[Helen Breewood]

Dear FCRN members,

 

We’re in the process of developing a website for our new initiative, Table. At the heart of what we want Table to do is to provide an online space for stakeholders – academic and non academic – to have thoughtful and constructive discussions about some of the deeper issues that underlie food system disagreements, as well to identify areas of consensus.

 

We’d really appreciate your views on how best we can do this. Over the years the FCRN has experimented with different ways of trying to foster discussions, including dedicated forum pages (on our older FCRN website), blogs, comments sections, and this FCRN Google Group, which now has over 400 members.

 

Each of these approaches has pros and cons. We’d welcome your thoughts on:

• Which of the approaches we’ve adopted so far have you found to be useful or not, and why?

• What modes of online discussion and dialogue do you participate in beyond the FCRN? These might include mailing lists, groups on LinkedIn, Facebook or other social media sites, Slack channels, WhatsApp groups and so on.

• Which tools or platforms do you enjoy using, and which have you abandoned because they are too complex or restrictive or for some other reason?

• Which tools or features are effective at encouraging respectful, constructive debate between people of opposing viewpoints?

• What approaches to online dialogue do you think the new Table should be using?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts so we can incorporate your feedback into the design of our new website. Feel free to reply either to the whole Google Group (via FCR...@googlegroups.com) or privately to helenb...@fcrn.org.uk.

Best wishes,

Helen

--

Helen Breewood

Research & communications officer at the Food Climate Research Network
Connect with me on LinkedIn

[Kasteren Joost van]

Dear FCRN members,

We are planning a student research project to quantify the amount of food that goes into a city like Amsterdam on a daily or weekly basis. The reason is that may people, including policy makers often have no idea how much food is needed to feed a city.
Starting with available food consumption surveys, we would try to develop a standardized diet, preferably for different age groups. These diets which include processed foods will then be ’translated’ into agricultural products.
The next step is then to calculate the tons of potatoes, the thousands of eggs and all the other products that are necessary to feed the city as a whole. Eventually we might even try and calculate the amount of land that is needed to produce this amount of food.
Question: Does anyone know of similar efforts to quantify the amount of food for a city? Thanks for letting us know.

All the best,
Joost van Kasteren

[Victoria T. Gu]

I'm not sure where to get the data on food going into the city, but for a "standardized diet", I would recommend looking into the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet.

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[Kasteren Joost van]

Thank you Victoria. I would say it would be interesting to compare the footprint of the actual diet of Amsterdam citizens with the planetary health ETA diet.  

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[Avery Cohn]

Dear Joost,

 

Starting with a couple of pilot cities (including Copenhagen I believe), this group is doing work of the sort you mention –

https://www.c40.org/press_releases/good-food-cities#:~:text=Under%20the%20C40%20Good%20Food,away%20from%20unsustainable%2C%20unhealthy%20diets.

 

Best wishes,

Avery

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[Ray Kowalchuk]

Joost van Kesteren,

I have CC’d Wayne Roberts, an urban food expert in Toronto, who, if he doesn’t have your answers should know how to get them. 

A fierce (like the biosphere depended on it) audit of each food should be included, stripped of industry interests and propaganda (what is the true value of an egg? How exclusive are it’s nutrients?). A “food entertainment” category should be identified that acknowledges that food is social and a city is forgiven a certain amount of sin (but for God’s sake quantify it!). Pretty much 0.1% of supermarket beef is the magical, regenerative stuff of 99.9% of conversation.

For classical flavour, consider Plato’s Republic where he distinguishes a just, “healthy” city from a luxurious city (which, even more meaningfully today, he calls “feverish”).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233499921_The_Healthy_City_Versus_the_Luxurious_City_in_Plato's_Republic_Lessons_About_Consumption_and_Sustainability_for_a_Globalizing_Economy

In my searching I discovered this cheeky interpretation, imagining Plato attending a modern convention. 

https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=bts

[Sophie Lamond]

Hi 

It might be worth checking out the reports and resources from Foodprint Melbourne 

https://fvas.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects/foodprint-melbourne/home#publications

Cheers

Sophie 

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'Eating is an agricultural act,' as Wendell Berry famously said. It is also an ecological act, and a political act, too. Though much has been done to obscure this simple fact, how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world - and what is to become of it.  -Michael Pollan 

 

[Tara Garnett]

Dear Joost

You may find some useful leads but following up the references in these two
reports and (third link) the website:

https://www.london.gov.uk/WHAT-WE-DO/environment/environment-publications/londons-wider-greenhouse-gas-impacts#acc-i-60601

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470766/gs-15-30-future-cities-urban-metabolism.pdf

https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2018/07/24/urban-metabolism-real-world-model-visualizing-co-creating-healthy-cities/

best


Tara



Tara Garnett
Food Climate Research Network
Environmental Change Institute
University of Oxford (note – this is not the postal address)
www.fcrn.org.uk
www.foodsource.org.uk

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[Kasteren Joost van]

Thanks for all the links and suggestions. Very inspiring. I will get back to you when we have our results.

All the best,
Joost

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[uto...@gmail.com]

Dear Joost,

There has been some work in France on this issue, more often linked to 'local' capacity to supply, however research has been undertaken on food consumption to provide the basis for these local production/supply chains. I can make some enquiries, if this is of interest but the reports/studies will be in French. Are you also aware of the upcoming 'Farm to Fork' Horizon 2020 calls under the EU Green Deal? Potential projects could include consumption mapping.

Best wishes, Clive (Peckham)

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[Kasteren Joost van]

Dear Clive,

That would be interesting. From 'a friend of a friend’ we heard that there were figures for Paris (8 million eggs a day), but we haven’t been able to find the study. So if you coluld help us finding it. that would be great. French language shouldn’t be a problem.

We did check the Farm2Fork calls for proposals, but I found that the calls for food and the city expired a few months ago. Would you have any information on more recent calls?

Thanks a lot.

all the best,
Joost

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[uto...@gmail.com]

Hello Joost

Here's a study from Rennes - pages 30 - 34 deal with consumption
https://www.dijon-ecolo.fr/doc-telechargeable/agriculture/Rennes-ville-vivriere.pdf

The next call will be launched as part of the Green Deal H2020 programme in September
https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/f2f_action-plan_2020_strategy-info_en.pdf here's the latest version there will be six thematic calls about €8-10M each

2.1. Ensuring sustainable food production
2.2. Ensuring food security
2.3. Stimulating sustainable food processing, wholesale, retail,
hospitality and food services practices
2.4. Promoting sustainable food consumption and facilitating the shift to
healthy, sustainable diets
2.5. Reducing food loss and waste
2.6. Combating food fraud along the food supply chain

Will try to find more about the Paris work + others + get back to you

All the best, Clive

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[Kasteren Joost van]

Hi Clive,

That is quite an interesting approach in the Rennes study. I have to look into it a bit more and try and figure out what the abbreviations stand for.Good to know there is a new call going out in September. I saw that the deadline for submitting proposals is January 2021 so there is some time to prepare. Thanks again for your help. Much obliged.

All the best,

Joost

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[Robyn Alders]

As a city has a mix of people of various ages and genders, you might need to consider the different dietary requirements.  The EAT-Lancet Planetary Health diet was constructed for an adult male.  It's reported to be deficient in micronutrients for women and unaffordable for low-income households and individuals.

Robyn Alders, AO
Tel: +61-2-48342247; Mobile: +61-467-603370; * "Toledo", Fullerton, NSW  2583, Australia

* Senior Consulting Fellow, Centre for Universal Health, Chatham House, UK; Honorary Professor, Development Policy Centre, Australian National University

* Director, Kyeema Foundation, Australia and Mozambique; Chair, Upper Lachlan Branch, NSW Farmers' Association, Australia

* Adjunct Professor, Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University

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[Tara Garnett]

Hi all

 

Just to clarify, the EAT Lancet diet was not constructed for an average male but for the population average which takes account of the differing needs of men and women and people at different stages in their life (above the age of 2).  This is made clear on p.13 of the appendix. 

 

“For our analysis, we aggregated the nutrient dataset to the commodity and regional

detail of our consumption data, and we normalised calorie densities to those of the Food and Agriculture

Organization for consistency with our diet scenarios. We then compared the calculated nutrient content of

the diet scenarios to recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). Because the

recommendations differ by age and sex, we calculated population-level average values for each nutrient

by using the age and sex structure for the year of analysis based on data by the Global Burden of Disease

project and forward projections by the Population Division of the United Nations. Our estimates of

recommended energy intake take into account the age and sex-specific energy needs for a moderately

active population of US height as an upper bound, and include the energy costs of pregnancy and

lactation.”

 

Note also that the diet set out in the made body of the report (p7) depicts a range, on the understanding that peoples’ needs and preferences will vary.

 

Best

 

Tara

 

 

 

Tara Garnett

Food Climate Research Network

Environmental Change Institute

University of Oxford (note – this is not the postal address)

www.fcrn.org.uk

www.foodsource.org.uk

 

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From: fcr...@googlegroups.com [mailto:fcr...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Robyn Alders
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2020 2:29 AM
To: FCR...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [FCRN-L] Food and the city

 

As a city has a mix of people of various ages and genders, you might need to consider the different dietary requirements.  The EAT-Lancet Planetary Health diet was constructed for an adult male.  It's reported to be deficient in micronutrients for women and unaffordable for low-income households and individuals.

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[Robyn Alders]

Thanks for this explanation Tara.  Why did you not opt for gender and age specific reference diets?  My background is that I'm trained as a veterinarian.  Age, gender and reproductive status are usually taken into account when preparing diets for animals.  I'm frequently amazed by the frequent use of a single reference diet for people and suspect that glossing over these differences contributes to poor nutrition outcomes.  

Kind regards, Robyn

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[dominic moran]

Dear Joost
Interesting question but:
1. What’s a city? Edinburgh (my city) can vary between 300k and 1.5 million depending on zonal definitions
2. What is the counterfactual yo this question? How much food goes into the country? In other words what follows from your likely finding that a lot of food goes into places where more and more people are choosing to live?
DM

Sent from my iPhone

> On 10 Jul 2020, at 20:14, Kasteren Joost van <vankaste...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Clive,

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[Julian Cottee]

Hi Joost,  

The FoodPrinting Oxford report I think fits the description of what you're looking for, including adjusting national consumption figures to local socio-demographic profile. It also then translates back to land, water and GHG footprint of the food consumed. 

I was involved with a later study in which we adapted and improved the FoodPrinting methodology and applied it to Greater Manchester and several other areas in the north west of England - see that report here. Both the Oxford and Manchester reports include description of methodology. 

Best, 

Julian Cottee

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[Tara Garnett]

Hi Robyn

 

The point of the study was simply to see whether it would be possible at the global aggregate level to feed everyone adequately while also keeping within planetary boundaries.  Looked in this way it doesn’t matter if, say, the requirements for calcium or iron vary by gender, age and reproductive status because it’s the average that has implications for how much food needs to be produced (and roughly what kind) and in turn what the consquences are for land, water, greenhouse gas emissions etc.  Obviously the variations need to be factored into the the model (which they wree) but the diet itself expresses the average (with quite  a lot of range as you know). From a planetary boundaries perspective if you need 50g of x and I need 100g then the average is 75g – it’s the 75g that will affect what will affect how much of what kind of food needs to be produced, with what land take, what emissions burden etc.

 

There will not just be differences in individual requirement by age, reproductive status etc but of course lots of other factors will come into play, as for example how physically active you are - an average 2500 kcal was used for this study, which is higher than mean requirements (once you account for age, gender, differences in physical activity levels etc) but includes a safety margin (pp21-22 of the appendix)

 

A more disaggegated consideration of the needs of different population groups would certainly be interesting and useful but it wasn’t the focus of this piece of work which was simply to ask  “can we feed everyone, in aggregate, well enough, while keeping within planetary boundaries?” - to which the report’s reply was “Just about.”

 

There’s plenty to critique in the report and build upon (e.g. what does this mean at a regional level, or a national level?  What happens if you make alternative assumptions about trade? Etc etc) but it represents a useful starting point for further work.

 

 

 

Best

 

 

Tara

 

 

Tara Garnett

Food Climate Research Network

Environmental Change Institute

University of Oxford (note – this is not the postal address)

00 44 207 686 2687

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[Julian Jones]

Tara,

Unfortunately the EAT-Lancet report, though likely well intended, just reiterates similar but erroneous conclusions regarding land use and food productivity that have been typical of disconnected urban elites over many centuries (Wittfogel, 1957 et al).

At the least, there is no mention whatsoever how small scale localised rain harvested irrigation can dramatically increase food production in all arid (excluding hyper-arid/rainfall @ 200+mm pa) regions while creating employment & sustenance.   See Rajendra Singh et al. Here practiced in Darfur, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/18/how-water-is-helping-to-end-the-first-climate-change-war , see the image 'Wadi El Ku'.  Do you see what is happening here, in terms of protecting 'Planetary Boundaries' ?

It is much the same in UK - I am working in a catchment that supplies Oxford - can I urgently request you visit with your team (preferably before harvest) to see how the type of agriculture EAT-Lancet promotes is creating flood and drought in your area; and the converse suggested above can dramatically increase productivity while quickly reversing environmental & climatic damage (while quickly reducing external inputs) ?

Many thanks - Julian

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[Clive Peckham]

Dear Joost,

I've made a few enquiries re Paris and there's nothing I can find on mapping food consumption except for specific sectors like school catering - very interesting project to create complete supply chains for bread from wheat + other grains, grown, milled and baked in the Ile de France region around Paris (organic). Paris is currently engaged in a 'Resilient city strategy' on the food angle they've signed an agreement with the association of the 'Rural Mayors of France' where 'localisation' of supply chains is a priority, this initiative is on hold following COVID and delayed local elections. As in almost all projects in France the focus is on '(how) can we be supplied more locally'. A very big issue is the question of access to land.

https://www.paris.fr/pages/paris-resiliente-4264

All the best, Clive (Peckham)

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[Kasteren Joost van]

Dear Clive,

Thanks for your efforts. This Paris Resilient seems like an interesting program. Amsterdam has something similar, called Amsterdam Circular. The idea is to source food and re-use waste on a regional scale. We got in touch with the people that are developing the program and they are very interested in our proposal. It is also being studied at Wageningen University, so we might have a good line-up for a Farm2Fork research proposal.

All the best,

Joost

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[Dave Reay]

Hi Joost,

This sounds like an excellent piece of work - could certianly help establish the (likely many) metric issues associated with trying to do this. I'd be keen to see how these data could then potentially feed into GHG footprinting at city scales (and so mitigation plans). Many cities here in the UK now have net zero targets, but scope 3 emissions (incl. food) often either not included or very vague in terms of metrics used. Establishing a robust accounting system for city food GHG emissions would therefore be really useful.

Cheers,

Dave

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[Helen Breewood]

Dear FCRN members,

Many thanks to those who have already shared their thoughts on which digital dialogue tools and platforms are most useful for debates on food sustainability. 

We'd welcome any further contributions as we develop a website for our new food dialogue initiative, Table - see the questions in the email below.

Best wishes,

Helen

[Emilia Schmitt]

Dear Joost

I conducted similar work with students around 6 years ago. They did evaluate how much land is necessary to feed the city of Zürich (with yield data) and maped it on the city's available arable land plus what would be needed outside it with the actual diet and scenarios of other diets (vegetarian or others). I know of similar work in Basel and the study in Rennes that has already been cited. I think there were calculations on Freiburg in Germany too. All is in german but could send some students' work personally per email if you drop me a line at sc...@zhaw.ch

At the moment I am working on several projects about land use and diets at the regional and country level. I would also be very interested to exchange on ideas for a Farm2Fork Proposal. 

Best

Emilia

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[Annie Leymarie]

Dear Helen,

Reading this late: I very rarely use/check my gmail address - which is the main drawback for me about a google group, as well as the absence of a filter to choose the most relevant discussions.

My main tool for information and discussions is Twitter, since one chooses whom to follow, it's used by many scientists and other key thinkers, and the need for brevity can be a strength. I also use various Facebook groups but am increasingly worried about Facebook's climate denying policies (e.g. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-denial-spreads-on-facebook-as-scientists-face-restrictions/) and calls for boycott.  

I appreciate articles that allow for comments below, as is the case with the conversation below this article, for instance:  

http://csanr.wsu.edu/regen-ag-solid-principles-extraordinary-claims/#comment-121465. I have taken part in quite a number of exchanges following the publication or posting of an article or paper (though I am not a scientist) on various platforms such as The Sustainable Food Trust, Resilience,  

Sorry I don't have other suggestions now, but much look forward to seeing the new Table platform, as FCRN has been overall an excellent resource and the need for conversations is huge! One important aspect that I hope Table will be able to address is that of conflicts of interests and thus bias. 

Thanks and regards,

Annie Leymarie   

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[Bill Grayson]

One of the big tensions in choosing between pasture-fed red meat and oily fish as a source of long chain omega 3 and complete protein. I have seen a lot of articles that suggest most seafoods contain a mixture of toxic residues, comprising a wide range of organic compounds and heavy metals. I wonder if anyone can refer me to studies in the literature that will help to quantify the health risks that this might pose for people who substitute oily fish for red meat as their main source of protein, according to the EAT Lancet or other dietary recommendations?

 

best wishes

Bill

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[Helen Breewood]

Dear Annie,

Many thanks for your insights. Would you be able to expand on how you hope Table might address conflicts of interest and bias? Are there any platforms or organisations that you feel do a good job in identifying or minimising conflicts of interest?

Best wishes,

Helen

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[Annie Leymarie]

Dear Helen,

Sorry for the late response: I rarely check my gmail inbox (so the reliance on gmail is for me one drawback with this forum). The only platform I know of which tries hard to highlight conflicts of interests, or just vested interests and bias/potential bias, is Marion Nestle's Food Politics, focused on nutrition: https://www.foodpolitics.com/. 

I feel it would be very useful if funding sources could be highlighted when Table presents studies, especially in cases where this could clearly influence results. 

Thanks and best wishes,

Annie Leymarie

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[Annie Leymarie]

Dear Helen,

Sorry I hardly ever use gmail and this is my only google group so I don't know how to start a new query here.

My question is this: We often read about agriculture's share of total GHG emissions but I hardly ever see the footprint of fisheries specified, and it seems to be often left out from the calculations for the footprint of various diets. Is this because it is not significant enough, or because it is somehow neglected? 

Thanks and best wishes,

Annie (Leymarie) 

[Luke Spajic]

Dear Helen,

Just providing some quick thoughts in relation to your question: I think for debate purposes Facebook is a bad platform as it older posts quickly get lost, leading people to start new threads discussing the same thing. I think anything where old posts are easily viewable/ searchable and can be added to over time is good. I think it is also important for people to be able to see some basic details of the person commenting - if they work anywhere which might cause bias etc. I have found Quora good in this sense as people generally comment with their qualifications or source or if it is their opinion/ experience at least this is made explicit. Perhaps it could be made the norm/ rule that people post such details when commenting, or make a profile and list such details, on a platform where people can easily click on this person's details if they wish. Also something where people can easily view other people's contributions to other threads to see if they are always advocating a certain fixed position.

I think it is also good to have something such as Reddit where subthreads can emerge as it can be difficult to keep track of this in email if multiple people respond and reference different new topics. 

I haven't found such a platform but hopefully this helps! I look forward to seeing how this develops. 

Kind regards,

Luke 

On Thu, 9 Jul 2020, 10:25 pm Helen Breewood, <helenb...@fcrn.org.uk> wrote:

Dear FCRN members,

 

We’re in the process of developing a website for our new initiative, Table. At the heart of what we want Table to do is to provide an online space for stakeholders – academic and non academic – to have thoughtful and constructive discussions about some of the deeper issues that underlie food system disagreements, as well to identify areas of consensus.

 

We’d really appreciate your views on how best we can do this. Over the years the FCRN has experimented with different ways of trying to foster discussions, including dedicated forum pages (on our older FCRN website), blogs, comments sections, and this FCRN Google Group, which now has over 400 members.

 

Each of these approaches has pros and cons. We’d welcome your thoughts on:

• Which of the approaches we’ve adopted so far have you found to be useful or not, and why?

• What modes of online discussion and dialogue do you participate in beyond the FCRN? These might include mailing lists, groups on LinkedIn, Facebook or other social media sites, Slack channels, WhatsApp groups and so on.

• Which tools or platforms do you enjoy using, and which have you abandoned because they are too complex or restrictive or for some other reason?

• Which tools or features are effective at encouraging respectful, constructive debate between people of opposing viewpoints?

• What approaches to online dialogue do you think the new Table should be using?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts so we can incorporate your feedback into the design of our new website. Feel free to reply either to the whole Google Group (via FCR...@googlegroups.com) or privately to helenb...@fcrn.org.uk.

Best wishes,

Helen

--

Helen Breewood

Research & communications officer at the Food Climate Research Network
Connect with me on LinkedIn

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[JCNiala]

Dear FCRN members,

I hope that this message finds you all safe and well.

I am a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford working on urban gardening - coming to the end of my second year.

The first peer review article from my research was published on Monday and I thought that some of you might find it interesting.

Please find the link for Dig for Vitality: UK urban allotments as a health promoting response to COVID-19 below

It is open access

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23748834.2020.1794369?scroll=top&needAccess=true

As my work continues, I would appreciate thoughts from those who may have the time to read it.

I am also keen to connect with those working on urban food solutions.

Thanks in advance for your kind consideration.

JC Niala

[Simon Ward]

Sorry I am unlikely to be helpful but I wonder whether fewer allotments are to do with demand rather than supply. Based on your suggestion that an allotment is 250 square meters there would be 40 allotments to ha (10,000 square meters). A rent of £20 per year for an allotment suggests a rent per ha of 20 x 40 = £800/ha are a little over £320/acre. £20 per allotment is the bottom end of the suggested range but even £20/allotment provides a return well above any reasonable expectation for most commercial farmland (assuming that I have not made an error). I accept that few farmers would be prepared to let out single allotments but many would let out ha plots if 1) allotment holders were prepared to accept allotments that were not square 2) 5 year agreements (in practice rolling on with say 12 months notice to terminte on a term date) 3) legal agreements could be put in place cheaply to protect the two parties. I appreciate that the value of inner city land would be much higher.

In my immediate area I understand there is no longer a waiting list but this is to do with the ebb and flow of demand rather than creation of new allotments.

It might be interesting to explore whether any of the observed benefits might be achieved via introduction of vertical farms.

Simon

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Simon Ward

We have created The Policy Group to use our experience of policy and pricing analysis to develop a detailed understanding of the implications of Brexit on the agricultural industry.  See www.thepolicygroup.co.uk

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[jpgoo...@gmail.com]

Hi JC,

 

Congratulations on the publication of your ‘think piece’. Thank you for inviting readership and comments. Two or three comments spring to mind which I hope are helpful and constructive.

 

During the 13 years (2003-16) I worked in various food and farming roles in Defra Westminster (Food Policy Unit, Sustainable Production and Consumption (Food), Sustainable Food and Farming, Agriculture and the Environment, Secretariat to the Council of Food Policy Advisors, ..) there was good awareness in the Department both of the health and social benefits of allotments.
Retirement has also provided more opportunity for recreational cricket whose treatment during the pandemic led to similar frustrations amongst its participants as allotmenteers, with the return of Test Matches prioritised over grass roots participation. This was probably a financial priority for our lobbyists, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

 

1. I don’t know the numbers any more but I’d suspect that the contribution of [overseas] ‘pickers’ to national food supply is disproportionately larger than the contribution from allotments by orders of magnitude; this is not to say that the contribution of allotments to the food security (and physical and mental health) of individuals is unimportant, as you rightly point out.
   The treatment of this type of paradox – the size of the effects on individuals vs national  effects - is a continual challenge to policymakers.
   On a personal note, as someone who had two weeks of school holidays as a boy for vegetable picking, it’s a sadness that these skills and the accompanying attributes have been lost to UK nationals, particularly when – for whatever reasons – some, but not all, unskilled workers are choosing to take benefits rather than participate/contribute. The government may well have been concerned to avoid mandating such participation on the grounds of political acceptability; farmers – or more realistically farm managers – were concerned that those mandated would not have the ‘abilities’ to contribute effectively over the piece.  

 

2. You would need to confirm by asking whoever was lobbying them on behalf of allotment holders (National Allotment Society?), what was the reason given for the government’s treatment of allotments during the pandemic.
   Was it the opportunity they provide for viral transmission e.g. ‘Nearly all allotments have areas where allotmenteers lay out surplus seeds, plants and crops for others to freely access without being seen, sparing shame that can be associated with visiting food banks.’, sharing of implements, communal entrances, uncontrollable [social] interactions? The comments in your paper about social distancing were appreciated by me but maybe not by those in power who would envisage enforcement as a challenge. Our knowledge of Covid-epidemiology has also developed since lockdown with the order/prioritisation of ‘easing’ inevitably causing frustration.   

 

3. Finally, a ‘left-field’ view on ‘food security’ (literally) that you may find facetious but will hopefully provoke comment for you. Should food shortage become an issue in U.K. (Prime Ministerial opinions on our continuing ability to buy our food on world markets have differed from one to the next – even PMs of the same political colour), then allotments would seem to provide an open invitation to thieves and so little or no ‘security’ at all?
   (Those lobbying to increase national food production on these grounds are often reminded that putting all ones eggs in a single geographic basket is not necessarily a good solution, protectionism notwithstanding.)

 

Hope these thoughts help; Good Luck with the final year of your PhD.

 

Phil

Dr J P Goodliffe

Wantage, Oxon

South Oxfordshire Amateurs CC; V&A CC; Oxfordshire Seniors.  

--

[JCNiala]

Thank you Simon,

You have given me some interesting points to think with.

As you say - the challenge is the inner city land value which when it comes to growing food very quickly doesn’t count towards ‘highest and best use’.

I will certainly look to find out if there is any vertical farming happening in Oxford,

JC

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[JCNiala]

Hi Phil,

Thank you so much for your helpful thoughts.

I would be interested to hear more (if you would like to share) about the Departmental awareness of health and social benefits of allotments.

My research so far has been primarily ethnographic both on allotments and with people who work for the council and there seems to be a gap between what allotmenteers perceive department officials as knowing/ caring about (as extrapolated through their experience of policy) and what people in the Department actually do take into consideration.

I am keen to understand this better.

I empathise with your personal note.

In my late teens, during the holidays, I worked as a ‘tattle roguer’ in Aberdeenshire - which was both an incredible experience and subsequently the thing I almost always got asked about in interviews until it dropped off my CV.

Yes - definitely more conversations to be had with the National Allotment Society.

With regards to point 3, I have some experience of this from a different country which may not translate to the U.K. at all, but indicates that there might be solutions.

I started (with a local youth group) an organic farm in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

The area that the farm was situated in at the time was one of the most dangerous in the settlement, and yet because of the ways in which the community was engaged in the process there was very little theft.

Despite the context being different, I believe that communities develop their own security solutions.

One of the allotment sites I am currently working in was essentially reclaimed land that had a tumultuous beginning in the way it was being (ab)used by those not actively growing on it.

With effort, over years this has radically changed.

I appreciate your good wishes, JC

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[Dominic Moran]

Hi

In Scotland at least I think the allotment thing was less than clear and possibly determined by local authorities (open or not).    My allotment has distancing guidelines – tho I still got sick (but that’s another story and it could have been the supermarket).  My bug-bear is that some people brought their kids who didn’t know how to distance.  

Casual observation suggests that holders were glad of the release provided by their plots, but to my mind, this is just another egregious health inequality.  Our plots are surrounded by tenement flats and I was personally aware that a lot of people were confined while I was busy sunning myself and weeding.

 

Finally, I don’t get your point on awareness.  The allotment office in Edinburgh Council is excellent in terms of his awareness and almost knows hundreds of holders by name.   I wouldn’t say there is a discrepancy between what he knows and what plot holders do/know /perceive. 

 

DM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

Many of you will have seen the news story yesterday that the UK saw the first domestic cat test positive for COVID-19. 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-confirmed-in-pet-cat-in-the-uk

 

The advice around pet animals remains unchanged and there is no evidence of cat to human transmission.  The updated RCVS facts, relating to veterinary obligations, can be found at:

 

FAQ 25: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/faqs/25-how-do-i-respond-to-pet-owner-concerns-regarding-coronavirus/

 

FAQ 22: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/faqs/what-are-my-professional-obligations-regarding-testing-animals/

 

Kindest

 

David

 

 

 

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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[jpgoo...@gmail.com]

Hello again JC

 

There will be a number of Government Departments involved with allotments e.g.:

• Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (Planning Policy),
• Department of Health and Social Care (DoH) – health benefits of allotments, COVID-19
• Defra – technical advice, co-funding, ..

As  far as I can recall, DoH had the policy lead on most of the day-to-day issues I observed whilst in the Food Policy Unit of Defra.

It might be possible that health benefits and food production aspects of allotmenteering caused some to-ing and fro-ing of issues between Departments, especially on funding?

I would imagine that the National Allotment Society would have been lobbying the DoH on Covid lockdown whilst it was being administered nationally.

 

Tim Lang will probably understand the interactions between the various actors at national and local levels; see the Foreword to this Report:

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/GrowingHealth_BenefitsReport_0.pdf

 

I’ll do a bit of digging – into my memory cells.

 

Phil

 

From: fcr...@googlegroups.com <fcr...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of JCNiala

Sent: 30 July 2020 15:33
To: FCR...@googlegroups.com

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[jpgoo...@gmail.com]

JC

NAS may (also) have been lobbying Cabinet Office, (as well as) rather than DoH, on Covid.

P

[JCNiala]

Hi DM,

Its great to hear that there is still an allotment office in Edinburgh Council - is there a specific allotment officer?

In Oxford, there has not been an allotment officer for several years now and this has changed the way in which allotmenteers are able to interact with the council and in part has led to the discrepancy I am referring to.

Have a good weekend,

JC

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[Dominic Moran]

JC

Yes – there is an officer who is very good and visible

D

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[Helen Breewood]

Hi Annie,

We have some items on the carbon footprint of fisheries and aquaculture in our Research Library - I hope these are helpful:

Fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions of world fisheries

April 2018

FCRN summary: https://www.fcrn.org.uk/research-library/fuel-use-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-world-fisheries

Original paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0117-x

Incorporating carbon footprints into seafood sustainability certification and eco-labels

July 2015

FCRN summary: https://www.fcrn.org.uk/research-library/can-seafood-high-carbon-footprint-be-sustainable

Original paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2015.03.009

Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from global aquaculture

July 2020

FCRN summary: https://www.fcrn.org.uk/research-library/greenhouse-gas-emissions-global-aquaculture

Original paper: https://rdcu.be/b5Dg3 or https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68231-8

See also:

• Seafood CO2 Emissions Profiling Tool
• The Seafish Guide to Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Seafood (2014 report)
• Global trends in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fuel combustion in marine fisheries from 1950 to 2016 (2019 paper)
  

Best wishes,

Helen

--

Helen Breewood

Research & communications officer at the Food Climate Research Network

[Annie Leymarie]

Many thanks - and sorry for my late response! 

Annie 

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