Colin Towns and the NDR Big Band with Norma Winstone

Tonight at Cadogan Hall, London - part of LJF

I went to see Colin Towns and the NDR Big Band last night in Edinburgh. I'm going to write about it properly sometime, but I have just seen that they are playing in London tonight.

Well, last night was a fabulous, exciting gig, and I strongly recommend anyone not doing anything in London tonight to get down to Cadogan Hall.

They are also playing in Leeds tomorrow, Manchester on Wednesday and Coventry on Thursday.

Go and see them!

Colin Towns and the NDR Big Band with Norma Winstone

Tonight at Cadogan Hall, London - part of LJF

I went to see Colin Towns and the NDR Big Band last night in Edinburgh. I'm going to write about it properly sometime, but I have just seen that they are playing in London tonight.

Well, last night was a fabulous, exciting gig, and I strongly recommend anyone not doing anything in London tonight to get down to Cadogan Hall.

They are also playing in Leeds tomorrow, Manchester on Wednesday and Coventry on Thursday.

Go and see them!

Food and the Environment

Some while ago on gastrogasm, there was some debate about the environmental impact of the food we eat: how agribusiness affects the environment, and what consumers - that's us - can do about it.

I was thinking of this when I heard this story on BBC Radio Scotland last week. I am not sure if it got much attention outside Scotland, and I thought it might interest some of you.

In summary, Youngs, a Scottish frozen fish producer, has laid off 120 employees from a fish processing plant in Dumfriesshire, south-west Scotland; it will ship the scampi (langoustine) from Scotland to Thailand for shelling - taking advantage of cheap labour costs - before shipping them back again for further processing. That's a round trip of 12,000 miles.

The move has been roundly condemned in Scotland, from both a people and an environmental perspective, by all political parties.

It does seem particularly perverse, and very damaging (the article states that for every tonne of scampi, half a tonne of CO₂ will be released.

(x-posted)

Food and the Environment

Some while ago on gastrogasm, there was some debate about the environmental impact of the food we eat: how agribusiness affects the environment, and what consumers - that's us - can do about it.

I was thinking of this when I heard this story on BBC Radio Scotland last week. I am not sure if it got much attention outside Scotland, and I thought it might interest some of you.

In summary, Youngs, a Scottish frozen fish producer, has laid off 120 employees from a fish processing plant in Dumfriesshire, south-west Scotland; it will ship the scampi (langoustine) from Scotland to Thailand for shelling - taking advantage of cheap labour costs - before shipping them back again for further processing. That's a round trip of 12,000 miles.

The move has been roundly condemned in Scotland, from both a people and an environmental perspective, by all political parties.

It does seem particularly perverse, and very damaging (the article states that for every tonne of scampi, half a tonne of CO₂ will be released.

(x-posted)