So it’s not just the Chinese…
…who have been eating bits of endangered shark (as I think I mentioned once before). According to this piece in the Daily Telegraph, around 20,000 tonnes…
Food Inc
Last night I went to a press screening of Food Inc, Robert Kenner’s film about the corporate takeover of the American (and global) agricultural and food…
Shark’s fin encore!
You can hear me talking about eating shark’s fin (or not) on the BBC today (or read the piece here). While I was writing it, I…
Greed and biodiversity
The Chinese penchant for eating endangered species is in the news again. Today the BBC ran a report by Moscow correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes about the poaching…
China’s artisanal foods
There’s an article of mine in the Financial Times Weekend today, about the dilemmas facing China’s artisanal food producers. The picture on the right was taken…
Copenhagen
As the Copenhagen summit goes on, deciding all our futures, I’ve been thinking about what it takes to motivate democratically-elected leaders to take steps that may…
Are we all mad?
My friend Andrea, cooking supper for a group of us at his home, mentioned that a mutual friend hadn’t been able to join us because he…
Telegraph ex-pat book club
‘Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper’ has been chosen as the first book featured by the international ex-pat wing of the Daily Telegraph’s website. This is great,…
More bad news about sharks
A new report says that many shark species are facing extinction, mainly because of overfishing. It’s not just the Chinese love of shark’s fin soup that…
Saving animals from the pot
According to this report in the Guardian, student groups in China are beginning to challenge the custom of eating endangered animals for their supposed health benefits.…