I thought I would pass on a press release that we received in our mailbox this evening, might be worth a look!

Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) invites you to attend the 2006 Memorial Lecture held annually in honour of Rachel Carson, No1 in the Environment Agency’s top 100 eco-heroes. “Farmers and Fashion - from Harvest to High Street”, is presented by Camilla Toulmin, Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development. A limited number of press reservations are available.

Media invitation: Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture 2006

Farmers and Fashion: from harvest to high street

How British consumers can support African farmers

5 December 2006, 6.30pm at the Royal Society for the Arts

From the underwear next to your skin to the shirt on your back and the sheets on your bed, cotton is part of everyday life.

In this year’s Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture, organised by Pesticides Action Network-UK (PAN UK), Dr Camilla Toulmin will reveal the stark reality of life for cotton farmers in semi-arid West Africa.

Toulmin, the director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, will explain how retailers, wholesalers and each of us, as consumers, can support more sustainable alternatives.

West African cotton stands as an icon for much that is wrong with our world. Hard-working farmers supply us with fibre at bargain basement prices. Agricultural subsidies paid out to cotton farmers in the US and Europe have brought the African farmers falling margins and incomes, despite their industry and competitive edge.

While West African art and music are widely acknowledged, the contribution of farmers to their countries and the global market is neither rewarded nor recognised. Their potential is undermined by unfair investment and trade policies that ignore local livelihoods and social needs.

PAN UK’s Cotton Project works with farmers, designers, suppliers and retailers ranging from well known High Street names to small cutting edge designers.

More than 10 million West Africans depend on the fine cotton that farmers coax from these semi-arid lands, without irrigation and making best use of what little rain falls.

High levels of pesticide use threaten health and endanger the fragile environment. But better and more sustainable alternatives are available. An increasing number of farmers are showing the benefits of changing their production by growing organic cotton.

How can we make a difference?

This year’s Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture will reveal the reality behind resourceful cotton farming communities of West Africa and how consumers could create more sustainable options for these women and men farmers.

William Lana of Greenfibres will chair the event. Copies of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking novel Silent Spring will be available and organic textiles will be displayed from the following design houses:

Hug www.hug.co.uk Ciel www.ciel.ltd.uk

Gossypium www.gossypium.co.uk People Tree www.ptree.co.uk

Organic for Kids www.organicsforkids.com Green Fibres www.greenfibres.co.uk

Cut4Cloth www.cut4cloth.co.uk Howies www.howies.co.uk Howies

Wildlifeworks www.wildlifeworks.co.uk Cat’s Eye www.catseyeworld.com

Katharine Hamnett www.katharinehamnett.com

Camilla Toulmin, an economist by training, has worked mainly in francophone West Africa, on agricultural, pastoral, and tenure issues. Her work focused particularly on livestock-crop relations in the region, and on issues of household strategies to ensure their longer-term security.

She was a member of the International Expert Panel supporting the preparation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Recent work includes research on land tenure in West Africa, livelihoods and poverty in Mali, challenges and opportunities relating to decentralisation, and collective management of common resources.

The lecture, at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 5 December, will be held at the Royal Society for the Arts, London. Call us on 020 7065 0905; email admin@pan-uk.org; or see the website www.pan-uk.org/booking to buy a ticket or support the event.

It is interesting to see the spread of votes in our last poll. The poll asked “Do you think nuclear power is the solution?”

The overall spread of votes was in favour of nuclear power with 39% believing it is inevitable. A third of those who answered believe that it should be avoided at all costs!

Its a real thinker this one as personally I don’t see an alternative. Renewable power just doesn’t seem ready to step up to the plate and be counted. Maybe with advances in technology and the ability to harness new power sources might see a brighter picture.

I think the comment from Mark Howard sums it up.. “We live in a culture terrified of our own mortality, nuclear would be a drop in the ocean in comparison to the looming threat of intensive global heating, the death of much ocean life, the melting of the ice caps and resulting sea level rise..”

Spooks, on BBC, this evening gave a frightening view of what we potentially have to look forward to and fear thanks to climate change.

The plot focused on a terrorist takeover of the London barrier, threatening to flood the city and cause mass devastation and loss of life. The terrorist plan used the fact that global warming had caused a swell in the sea that would cause a mass wave to tear through London all the way to Twickenham.
The really scary part were the estimates of casualties that were mentioned. Although these are created for the fictional plot they were real cause for thought and discussion.

It makes you wonder how much research and truth there are in these programs and if such a natural disaster is just around the corner! Hopefully the episode will shock more people into thinking about climate change and the effects of global warming.

It is great to see the return of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to our screens in the new series of River Cottage. The new series called “The River Cottage Treatment” takes on people who prefer fast food to fresh food, and gives them a taste of the River Cottage “grow your own” philosophy.

This weeks show concentrated on battery and factory farming of chickens and visited one such farm to highlight the conditions these poor creatures are forced to live in. The shock tactic initially doesn’t seem to work, but watching it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth!

Hugh’s usual blend of charisma and passion shine through again in a great episode and it looks like being another cracking series!

Find out more at The River Cottage Treatment website

Do you think the government should curtail cheap and short-haul flights?

I was greatly interested to read the latest results of our regular poll.

44% of people who took part said no, it should be down to the consumer. This is interesting and is a lot higher than I had been expecting, especially in light of recent articles and news reports about the cost of such flights and air travel in general on the environment.

With sites like Plane Stupid campaigning against short haul flights and companies like Ryan Air looking to expand it looks like we will see a long and brutal battle between environmentalists and those wanting the freedom short haul flights can give.

Maybe its time for other forms of transport to step up to the plate and take a look at themselves. After all it is generally cheaper and quicker to fly south to north in the UK than it is to use the train. Whilst researching the costs of rail travel I found an instance where it was in fact cheaper to travel to New York with Virgin (about 3500 miles) than it was to travel from Swindon to Newcastle 1st class on the train (about 270 miles).

Maybe there is a case for upping the tax on air travel, or maybe we should look to make other public transport cheaper and more efficient.

Food for thought…