A well argued article about the benefits of higher prices to quinoa farmers of the Altiplano. It puts the well intention but unrepresentative article, that appeared in the  Guardian last week, into perspective.  http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/01/quinoa_bad_for_bolivian_and_peruvian_farmers_ignore_the_media_hand_wringing.htm

For most of humanity’s existence on this planet poverty was an inevitable situation. There simply was not enough food and resources relative to the world’s population, especially when bad harvests struck. But that is no longer the case. Given the huge leaps in productivity seen in the last century humanity produces more than enough food and basic goods to supply every human on the planet with their basic requirements. This is a fundamental change, as scarcity is no longer the issue. Distribution is now the issue. That is why Fairtrade is such a powerful tool in fighting poverty. Many of...

As the Guardian reported a few days ago, there seems to be a growing willingness of UK consumers to buy ethically. This is heartening news to us at Quinola, as ethics is part of our DNA and ecology at the heart of our organic only philosophy. In the Nielsen survey a quarter of British shoppers said they would choose a Fairtrade or green product even if it cost them more money. Whenever you a buy a product in a shop, you buy and support all the supply chain that goes into it. Sometimes it’s pretty tough to know exactly what...

According to scientific studies, we eat too much sugar. It’s bad for you, we know that. Yet somehow we’re all still eating too much of the stuff. Sugar is common in our everyday lives, ubiquitous and often hidden. From sugar-laden breakfast cereals and cooking sauces to yoghurts and apparently healthy snacks, almost everything has a hidden sugar content. This is worrying because excess sugar is linked to many diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes. The current abundance of sugar in our everyday diets has managed to creep up to this level because it’s been on the increase for years;...