WRAP your head around this. The Telegraph reports that “food champions” will literally be coming to homes in Britain to make sure they don’t throw away leftovers, eat spoiled groceries and do not otherwise harm the planet.
Home cooks will also be told what size portions to prepare, taught to understand “best before” dates and urged to make more use of their freezers.
The door-to-door campaign, which starts tomorrow, will be funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a Government agency charged with reducing household waste.
The officials will be called “food champions”. However, they were dismissed last night as “food police” by critics who called the scheme an example of “excessive government nannying”.
In an initial seven-week trial, eight officials will call at 24,500 homes, dishing out advice and recipes. The officials, each of whom has received a day’s training, will paid up to £8.49 an hour, with a bonus for working on Saturdays.
The pilot scheme, which will cost £30,000, could be extended nationwide if it is seen as a success. If all 25 million households in the UK were visited in the same way, 8,000 officials would be required at a cost of tens of millions of pounds. … The project is part of WRAP’s “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign, which has so far cost £4 million. The organisation says food waste has a significant environmental impact, in terms of the carbon generated to grow, transport and package items and the cost of having to dispose of them. It has calculated that stopping food waste could reduce the annual emission of carbon dioxide by 18 million tonnes – the same effect as taking one in five cars off the roads.
In other developments, some restaurants in Britain are using CCTV cameras to gather evidence against diners who complain about poor food and service in their establishments. One woman, sent a letter complaining of bad food, poor service and high prices said, “she was left astonished by the restaurant’s response. Simon Offen, the catering manager, emailed her to say he disputed her version of events after he had ‘watched and listened with interest to the video recording of her table’.” The British Hospitality Association believed the practice of recording the mastications of diners at their tables “odd”.
“The service was terrible,” Mrs Fletcher wrote in her letter of complaint. “We waited 20 minutes at our table until we were asked what we would like to drink.” In an attempt to get some service, Mrs Fletcher went over to three waiters who she said were “lolling about” in another part of the restaurant, only to be told that they worked only for their “half” of the restaurant.
When the cold drinks the family ordered finally arrived they came in glasses that were hot.
More problems followed. “My husband’s soup was lukewarm,” Mrs Fletcher said. “My son’s mushroom pancakes were bland. “The roast pork portions were mean – just one slice – and the gravy was thick and tasted not unlike Oxo gravy. “The vegetables were terrible. They tasted as though they were cooked well in advance and then heated up. My dessert was tasteless.” The total cost of the outing, including the meal, parking and a walk around the grounds, was £134.
Such bad food and in such small portions, too. I wonder what the Food Champions would make of it.
Restaurants can use CCTV all they want. People can always eat at home or at a cheap take-away. Which they likely will.
Using CCTV is the mark of a failed restaurant, unless they get a bailout.
As far as the food police, the recession will take care of leftovers. The idea of food police is … laughable. And moronic. I’m sure Obama will implement it here.
The “Telegraph” link goes to a WordPress login page.
The “Telegraph” link goes to a WordPress login page.
Thanks. Fixed.
Thanks, wretchard. This time I got a 404 error, but when I deleted ‘%22′ at the end of the URL it went to the proper link.
Sorry for being so careless. I’ve fixed the link for good and all now.
Stupid stuff like this makes me wonder if (1) the British “authorities” are looking for reasons to get inside people’s homes for a look around, and/or (2) if their economy is so bad that they’re forced to make up work to create jobs.
Surely there is no law on the books there to force home-owners to open their doors to these intruders … or is it the same situation as being forced to pay for BBC whether or not you want it and being monitored to make sure you *are* paying for it.
Will the “food champions” follow PETA’s lead in urging the Brits to “Save the Sea Kittens!”
http://www.peta2.com/sea_Kittens/
Beyond parody, but so is WRAP.
This is Maoism with a dash of Cuban socialism. The step beyond will be self criticism sessions in front of the neighbors. The only bright spot is that the incompetence of the low end of the Civil Service (these are not Mandarins from Yes Minister) means it will all be a make work farce. Uneducated temporary workers will have at most 5 minutes at a residence, probably less than half that as they walk around and ring doorbells. This is like census work. People can be encouraged to act by offering them something in return. It doesn’t have to be money. War time recycling worked because it was for a cause that people believed in. Save those scraps to feed pigs for Britain could work, if people believed it was important. Similarly a Waste Not Want Not slogan might make a difference. Busybodies poking around to see how your housekeeping is sounds like it will be as popular as a visit from the Ministry of Mothers-in-Law.
The failure to observe expiration dates on labels is a sign of illiteracy. The problem is a failure to enforce standards in the schools.
Will the British government send their little “nannies” to natter at people, house to house and face to face, about honor killings?
Somehow, I don’t think so.
This is so typical of where nanny-government leads that it almost beggars belief. The problem with too many Brits is that without a modicum of outside feedback they tend take themselves oh, so seriously.
But this will give some US libs the idea for a cadre of “Hybrid Champions”, going door-to-door seeking out evil SUV’s. Mark my words. You heard it hear first [I hope]. ie: [I don't hope they do it. I hope I'm the first to suggest use of the term on the net].
[forgive misspells and omissions-will never blog after midnight again].
Scooper is on to it, the natives will bite the upper lip and do it for king and country, the Muslims will threaten, beat and then kill enough that few of the busy bodes will darken the Muslim door, with occasional exception of course! Mean while the civilized will slowly be out bred and disappear into the night with little more than an occasional whimper…
So if a bunch of these dedicated public servants got together for a morning meal, they’d have a
Breakfast of Champions!
With one day of training, they will have worked up a hearty appetite.
They’ll need their Wheaties, even if they’re a little old.
I don’t think this is an [i]entirely[/i] bad idea.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…Nanny State and all that
But, it seems that much of the younger generation truly don’t understand “frugality” or “leftovers”, especially in Britain. Their parents have not needed to teach them…until now.
When I talked about an article in the Telegraph a few months ago about the amount of food just thrown away in Britain, and the lack of understanding about “leftovers”, even my own daughter (26yo) was stunned. She found it incomprehensible that Brits wouldn’t eat leftovers. I usually buy and cook enough for dinner for everyone and lunch the next day. Saves a heap on buying lunch, and (if I might say so) better quality! We very rarely throw away any food.
However, it does seem many “young people” really, truly aren’t familiar with this — their parents never taught them.
Bugger…
Can anyone point me to some instructions for formatting posts on this blog?
Mr. Red Face!
I missed the title the first time around!
Damon:
Just replace the [Brackets] with these guys:
“In a related story, the British government today announced that, in the interest of ‘fairness, inclusivity, and sensitivity,’ its mandatory ‘Two Minutes Hate’ daily exercise has been renamed ‘Two Minutes Assertively Registered Dislike.’”
Orwell wept.
oops, they disappeared.
Here ya go.
Such is life on Airstrip One.
Which side will you be on? Moorlocks or the Eloi?
Perhaps they can rename the agency in charge of this program the Department of Overabundant Food Utilization Systems.
“Hi, I’m a DOOFUS representative. Can I come in and have a chat?”
Yeah, that would work.
L3
This is Maoism with a dash of Cuban socialism. The step beyond will be self criticism sessions in front of the neighbors.
LOTM — those may just be words to some people, but they are very real to me.
My wife and I were among the first “tourists” to travel in China after Mao died — 1978. Walking down a pedestrian and bicycle clogged street full of a bazillion humans in green, blue, and gray Mao suits, we spied a pretty, hatless young bicyclist, also in a green Mao uniform, but with a long, pink ribbon streaming from her hair. Our state-appointed guide hesitated when I asked about it, and then he told me that while things had loosened up a bit after Mao’s death, the young girl would nevertheless be asked at her block-committee review whether she considered herself, as an individual, as more important than the People’s Revolution.
And then I returned to the US to work at a university which by the 90′s graded us annually (part of our professional review) on how well we supported “Diversity.”
Mushroom pancakes? I would hope that “bland” is the goal of such a concoction and, God forbid, that such a mess ever shows up on the menu at IHOP…but I’m just a food philistine, I guess.
Well if the staff get paid £8.49 an hour I reckon each visit is under 9 minutes. Not gonna teach much there. Even if £8.49 is time-and-a-half it would take only 13 minutes with no overtime hours. And that’s assuming zero pay for inter-house travel time. £1.22 a visit sounds quite efficient even for a silly nanny project like this!
Back in the mid-70’s I read a science fiction story entitled “Lipidlegging.” The idea was that fatty foods, like real butter and cream, were outlawed and so a network of illegal smugglers and suppliers sprang up.
Sounds like a more likely future every day.
This is the flip side of National Health Care. Given universal free or heavily subsidized health care, Food Police are a reasonable idea. Why should I pay the health care costs of some fat slug that is not even trying to live a reasonably healthy lifestyle? Add in the often contradictory reports that come out every day from this or that study on what is good and bad for you, and stir in a hearty amount of bureaucratic non-management, and you have the makings of officially imposed chaos.
“The condemned man ate a hearty last meal.” And if it was what the Food Police had picked out for him, he probably ran to the electric chair.
And he’d better not ask for the customary last cigarette. Those things aren’t healthy ya know.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…Nanny State and all that”
Once I had a patient who was a middle-aged woman from China. After I took her blood pressure, she asked me a question about it. Before I could answer, she grabbed my arm and told me “I’m not curious”. She repeated this several times as I was getting her vital signs and it was the last thing she said to me as I left the room. I got the impression the single most important thing to her at that moment was correcting any mistaken assumption I might have that she’d been “curious”
There’s no end to the fear that comes with “all that”
Lets face it. Many Brits have been so busy all their lives being superior to Yanks that they haven’t had time to learn about food portions, etc., et al. With enough DOOFUS reps, though they can easily overcome this setback. Nanny marches on!
Sounds like an excellent use of all those surplus tax dollars lying around, and meaningful employment for all those people Obama’s going to give jobs to. Look for this program to come to the US soon.
Any food cops coming to my house better be heavily armed and wearing kevlar.
So, will there be a fine if the resident laughs and tells the food cop to go fork himself?
Back during the Falklands conflict in the early 80’s an Argentine solider was captured by the British. He refused all attempts at interrogation.
“Well, then,” said one Brit, “we’ll see how he feels about talking after he gets six inches of cold British food in him.”
And they complain about waterboarding!
Damon @ 15. Please tell me you jest.
They sound like “Telephone Sanitizers” to me.
Lipidlegging.
Michael Hoskins #34
Damon has a point. I have children who very much want to reduce expenses in the present economic situation. I did not teach them in the 1960s what I learned from my parents out of necessity in the 1930s, who had learned from their immigrant parents in the 1910s. I did not have to watch expenses so tightly in the 1960s and so did not set such a firm example for them, and I am not around them to set that example now. Even though I can easily revert to what I learned as a child, they have to learn on their own and that is not as easy.
Shifting from family economics to national economics, there does seem to be a conflict between strengthening the credit system and ability to lend and reducing irresponsible lending, borrowing, and spending.
Best wishes,
Jim
Jim, with all due respect, your answer, then, is to have the government cover for your mistakes and your children’s ignorance?
Not!
One of the great things that can come from tough times is a rapid education and return to the basics. Basics are good. In fact Allstate Insurance is actually using this line in TV commercials.
Think of it as your first time under fire, only less intense. OODA.
“”"”"”"”Will the “food champions” follow PETA’s lead in urging the Brits to “Save the Sea Kittens!””"”"”"”"
I’m rather fond of “Sea Kittens & Chips,” with a liberal dose of malt vinegar.
“”"”"”"”The failure to observe expiration dates on labels is a sign of illiteracy”"”"”"”"”
Well, it’s also a sign of bathelorhood. To single men, the expiration date is merely a “Suggestion.”
My mother to this day keeps every little morsel of food – and for long periods of time. As a result, her reefer smells tainted and I can not eat leftovers from my own past two days max, so affected I have become. My solution is to prepare only what I intend to eat. It helps with dieting too.
“”"”"”"”I don’t think this is an [i]entirely[/i] bad idea.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…Nanny State and all that
But, it seems that much of the younger generation truly don’t understand “frugality” or “leftovers”, especially in Britain. Their parents have not needed to teach them…until now.”"”"”"”"”
HA! HA! I enjoy subtle satire, so thank you for that!
You know, Damon, all jokes aside, there actually are people who seriously believe what you just made fun of!
“”"”"”"Which side will you be on? Moorlocks or the Eloi?”"”"”"
Moorlocks, because I like meat. I will, however, take an Eloi wife, as they are much prettier. I, of course, will not eat the resulting offspring, but will also not keep them beyond their expiration date, since I would no longer be a batchelor and must do as The Wife tells me.
“”"”"”"Mushroom pancakes? I would hope that “bland” is the goal of such a concoction and, God forbid, that such a mess ever shows up on the menu at IHOP”"”"”"”"”
Which begs the question, since we’re talking about Brit cooking. Now, while the stereotype of British food being largely awful or indifferent may be unfair in this global age, I think it still holds true that these “food champions” are likely abysmally ignorant about the preparation of food. One day of training is going to make next-to-no difference in their level of “expertise.”
But, hey, we’re talking about government “planning” now, aren’t we?
And then I returned to the US to work at a university which by the 90’s graded us annually (part of our professional review) on how well we supported “Diversity.”
I get the feeling that “diversity” in a university context means one thing and one thing only – racial quotas. When one seeks excellence, there will often be “diversity” of ideological and cultural viewpoints. It’s rather like making October Ale by letting the bugs and leaves fall into the brew.
However, it just isn’t quite the same when a corporation drops exact proportions of bugs and leaves into the mash. College administrators often seem to act as if there were some magic ethnic recipe for creating a utopian civilization. That’s sad.
Agree with RWE
This whole farce is possible because of the already massive presence of government in British citizens’ every day life. Once the government provides a subsidy or a service, the state then has an interest in making sure that taxpayer money is being spent properly. If large portions of Great Britain were not government-supported to varying degrees, none of this nonsense would be “on the table” for discussion.
In the U.S., persons driving cars are less protected from search and seizure than are persons not driving cars. Why? Because government owns and maintains the roads, and government issues drivers’ licenses, so the state is able to do things to people in a car that the state could not do otherwise. Some minimal level of government involvement will then, by itself and standing alone, be a basis for MORE government regulation and involvement. As circular and dangerous as this sounds, this very principle is reflected in U.S. Supreme Court opinions examining constitutional rights.
I can’t help but believe the tyranny of the nanny-state, combined with mindless and dangerous multiculturalism, will eventually lead to widespread societal breakdown in the U.K.
“The nine scariest words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
This is just another way for the UK government to try to solve a problem of its and the EUs making.
The EU is limiting the amount of rubbish allowed in landfills. The government has, mandated all household trash be divided into five groups, including food waste.
At the same time, due to penalties(EU) being imposed for trash collection, local councils are reducing their collections to once a fortnight.
This leaves a lot of foodwaste waiting to be collected. Unrelated of course is the explosive growth of the rat population.
It’s indeed a problem of the EU’s making and a typical socialist reaction on the part of the UK government.
The very statist EU is not only prohibiting landfill use for rubbish although it was scientifically proofed to be non-noxious and harmless, if properly managed, besides also being the most economical solution.
The EU imposed incineration and also decreed that food leftovers or so called food waste could not be used, as it was before to feed live stock (especially pigs). Two useful recycling methods of waste disappeared and a problem of disposal was created.
Although amply forewarned the UK (Labour) Government did not invest in sufficient incineration capacity, so the problem got worse and worse. Now they try to shift the blame to the “squandering” citizens and what better method is there than to create a new eco-health administration or a food police enjoying wide governing and soon also penalizing powers.
Did not have time to read through comments, so not sure if this has been addressed. The stated purpose is likely a cover. The real purpose may be the compliance with Codex Alimentarius.
It is with a bit of a conspiracy theory tilt, but there may be some grains of truth in it:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
I should also say that part of the problem is the EU doesn’t recognize the value of the power being produced by methane from local trash fills. Instead the EU insists the wet trash be shipped to a central site for disposal in an Aerobic digestor. An aerobic digestor not yet built.
Geoffb:
Hey! You found Lipidleggin!
Thanks!
Buckets, #47,
You describe well the “circular” mechanism by which government intrudes evermore in our private lives.
The “Interstate Commerce Clause” is the method by which the U.S. Federal Government insinuates itself into our neighborhoods, bedrooms, homes and gardens, far, far away from it’s barnacled redoubt in Washington DC.
Escaping to Mars sounds better and better everyday!
And if you dare turn them away at your door it will mean constant monitoring by inland revenue for the rest of your days.
Food waste picked up once a fortnight–the EU is going to stink to high heaven.
Steveaz,
I actually never had a huge issue with the Commerce Clause and the Court’s expansive interpretations, mostly because the Feds were using it to fight the Civil Rights struggle, to smooth out interstate commerce and travel, and to codify modern crimes which the states hadn’t gotten around to recognizing yet. But like any good believer in Federalism, I do welcome the modern limits placed on it by Morrison and Lopez.
Your notion isn’t far off base, and I think it’s within the realm of possibility that an Obama-picked Court could grind up the 10th Amendment and modern principles of federalism to push some sort of Obama-nationwide-code-of-laws-for-social-justice-and-harmony.
Though I agreed with him, Bush also tried to use the Commerce Clause to push an agenda – the Violence Against Unborn Victims Act (or something along those lines). Abortion rights groups saw it as an attack on Roe v. Wade, and there was a great deal of controversy.
I liked the Act and I did think it undermined Roe (which I found interesting and amusing – social conservativism isn’t often known for subtly and indirectly undermining the established law of the land, that’s more a Lefty tactic).
Damon speculates on an interesting thought to this land locked PA Dutchman, the English don’t believe in leftovers. Is that so, or are we extropolating from a few posts on an internet site?
If so, I imagine chili is not big in England as most people I speak to enjoy the reheated version more than the original.
Have I mentioned leftover pierogie casserole?
I’ve given up pierogies because of it, they just don’t compare.
And so we have a preview of the promised Obama “Civilian Defense Force”.
Are your recyclables properly sorted and placed at curbside?
Is your thermostat set any higher than 68 during winter or lower than 78 during summer?
Are all of the “Do not remove under penalty of law” labels still in place on your pillows and mattresses?
So many evils to be addressed and so little time.
Michael Hoskins #39
Michael, it appears I was inept in making my point. My wish is not that government cover for what I did not teach or my children did not learn. It is that they can learn, and maybe that I can still teach them, to cover for themselves.
I doubt if Damon was endorsing the Nanny State and I am not. Certainly much of the activity described in Wretchard’s lead is intrusive. But that does not mean that government shouldn’t have a role in teaching saving and responsibility instead of focusing on easier credit and evading mortgage contracts.
Best wishes,
Jim
“They sound like “Telephone Sanitizers” to me” – geoffb
As a Brit, I find this story so humiliating and depressing, and therefore I must thank geoff for and enabling me to have a good laugh at it.(I think the Telephone Sanitizers happened while I was in the Middle East, when I got back they had moved on to being Visiting Shoe Shiners…)
But this story IS so humiliating and depressing, like so much else that this government imposes on us at our own tax-expense.
After WW2, food-rationing in Britain continued for NINE years, ending only in 1954, after which food continued to be relatively expensive, as did energy for cooking, and so millions of us grew up eating left-overs well into the 1960s, and at least some of us learned good habits from our frugal mothers which have not been forgotten.
Bur forgetting good habits seems to be what Labour want us to do, until we are thoroughly infantiled and unable to tie our own laces without help from The Party.
And yes, I am sure that many of these “WRAPpers” will be Islamic Fundamentalists, so I expect some horror stories in the MSM due to kuffars not hiding their bacon butties in the back garden before the visit…
If I had my druthers, it would be the A ship that blasted off into space, ridding us of useless people. Honestly, someone who will do a good job sanitizing my, um, telephone is welcome to his paycheck. For that matter, a DOOFUS operative who keeps some ill-raised Brit from poisoning herself with expired kippers can stay. But the “great leaders” who cooked up this dog’s-breakfast-of-champions need to go find some space aliens to bestow their wisdom upon. Maybe the claw-worshipers from Toy Story.
Time to put Global Warming to use. The Earth is obviously doomed, but in 2007 astronomers discovered a reasonably earth-like planet 20 light-years away orbiting Gliese 581. We can’t afford to build a ship large enough for everyone, but we can save our elites! Save Obama Now! Build The One and his cabinet a ship to take them to Gliese 581 where they can build a better world. He can take Algore and the Sierra Club alone to ensure the ecosystem of New Earth is preserved. University Presidents and the Humanities departments can go too (sadly, Engineering, Aggricultural and Forrestry departments must be left behind, as we wouldn’t want them despoiling New Earth). The EU ministers and the rest of the International Left would of course have to go too, since forcing them to remain on Old Earth once Obama left would be unbearable and cruel.
I think it’s a foolproof plan. The only real question is whether we could fool Putin, Chavez, AQ, the Mullahs, and the Chinese inner Party to go too. If so, great. If not, I suspect those of us left behind would be better able to deal with them once our elites were taking the slow-boat to Gliese 581.
Wretchard, you were right about how conditional life is and the very prudence of space colonization.
this brit food nazi stuff is an example of the downward pressure on life today
Is this a trail precursor to what Obonga has planned with his civilian security force? Is this what global government by the socialists is all about? It seems that there is frantic planning, implementation, and activity from the socialist warrens going on now. As if they are really dropping the hammer HARD on us. And done by stealth, I might add.
I’m coming in late to this, but I agree with Damon@#15. This is not really a bad idea. As JMH@#60 mentions, a lot of us were taught how to use leftovers in planning other meals in the week (I was a bachelor for some time before I married) by our mothers. We were taught rudimentary sanitation in food preparation. We were taught how to plan meals in the most cost effective manner. I challenge you, fellow commenters, to say where today’s young families are getting this education/advice. So, if proper food management and food preparation for many families is a problem, that once solved saves the individual families money, reduces the amount of waste destined to rot in land fills (although it may eventually produce methane for heating), reduces the number of trucks required to haul waste, et cetera, et cetera, how would YOU propose solving these problems? Not all “nanny state” solutions are bad, they just need to be examined closely.
Darn, I forgot to add, In My Humble Opinion. Forgive my rudeness.
Will they leave WRAP savings erm, save wrap leavings, Oh dear, will they place the scraps under a TARP or just allow the whole thing to stew in its own juice.
Will the Food Champions also deal in Compost or is it apparent they already are? I think you could find the mushrooms for that pancake in the lady’s mum ice box, right under last months tort surprise.
Where is Monty Python when they are so desperately needed. Off slapping a mackerel I suppose.
Seems monty-pythonesque. But as my grany used to say–”watch hand, not the mouth”–referring to snake oil salesmen of all kinds.
The idea seems to be one of those only lib can come up with. Rather than insidious, it looks stupid, deranged, inane and insane.
But what if someone wants to introduce intrusions and is looking for a pretext that may pass, as another of these government stupid laws designed to be a pure annoyance under the guise of do-goodism. One may protest, but it would be against an annoyance, not against some type of control that is way darker in its nature. But once the control is established and accepted as one of these little evils government does, it can be the expanded easily, to include any other forms of intrusions that would be not so benign.
Now, what if what some people assume about Codex Alimentarius is true. If implemented, you may be surprised to find out that a tomato is not food, but a drug, because it contains certain compounds that have an effect on several aspect of human health. Once it is classified as a drug, then it follows different regulations and you as a consumer have no business to have it in your fridge. You can’t even have it in your garden, the tomato police would come in a rip it out. You may even go to prison for illegal planting of unauthorized substance. The tomato is used as an example, but I wouldn’t exclude it from the realm of possibilities if CA is implemented. Maybe broccoli would be a better example, because it contains dioxins, which however are in a form that seriously impedes growth of cancer cells. You don’t like broccoli? Well, think of something you like. The only “food” available would be processed food with little or no nutritional value.
Sounds like a example from another planet, doesn’t it? But imagine more fundamental way to control hoi polloi. Food and/or reproduction, and you have them corraled as sheep they are (if you are a power hungry fcuked up sociopathic elitist)..
Food to rule them all, food to find them,
Food to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
@Davod,
Picturing what the Aerobic Digestor will look like I see something between Jabba the Hutt and Pohl/Kornbluth’s Chicken Little housed in a mysterious pile near a Wodehousian Village that rejoices in the name of Little Codleswops by the Way, populated largely by sheep benefiting from a team of government experts seeking to counsel them past their massive collective inferiority complex.
Does this sound more like a script from Jeeves and Wooster or The Avengers?
Bottom line, if you can’t cook and store food your own food, you don’t deserve to live. Unless you’re disabled and have an excuse.
They (them; gubmint) have to find something whichsticks. The AGW (or ACS–Anthropogenic Climate Change as lately refered to) is almost a fiasco. From time to time, there are attempts at rescue, like:
A href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/12/sea-co2-climate-japan-environment”>Sea absorbing less CO2, scientists discover, but in all likelihood, a couple more years and it’s over as temperatures decline will be noticeable to a majority of buyers and they will not buy it anymore.
That does not mean they (them gubmint), wouldn’t try to find another holy grail. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, eye of newt and a wing of moonbat…
Something will stick. And food? You can quantify food easily, unlike the unpredictable weather. If there is not much food available, there won’t be any dispute about that fact. And food riots? Imagine emaciated protesters against porky food cops (in this case perhaps appropriately called “pigs”, or by adding “h” “pork chops”).
OK, I am having too much fun.
Just wanted to drive my point that things may be not what they seem and different groups driven by different agendas are trying to set up the best possible conditions for themselves to live long and prosper, at expense of “others”. The western concept of win-win is slowly sidetracked by a zero-sum concept imported from other ideologies and it is likely to dominate, for time being, and reflect in agendas that are trying to assure their own prominence.
69. bob
Unless Pork Chops come and take it all away from you because of _____. (the _____ represent any number of inane, insidious directives of unelected regulatory busybodies).
gjbuilder, this was the article I remembered.
Jim Nicholas & programmer, yes indeed that was my point — if the older generation haven’t taught “saving and responsibility”, how will they learn? Obviously time teaches, but a little help won’t go stray.
I don’t like the “intrusive” nature, and certainly not the coercive aspects. As an education campaign I don’t have an objection to it.
As I said, this thing has some good elements.
Also, I have no interest in the “environmental” bits — a load of bollocks as the Brits would say.
JMH:
Perhaps you are familiar with Kornbluth’s “Marching Morons” series of SF stories? The dummies on Earth breed together and the intelligent people breed together, and the result is that the geniuses all secretly move to a city under the ice of Antarctica, leaving the race of stupids to think they are running the planet. The geniuses send people out to make sure things run smoothly and gimmick up the technology to make it more or less idiot proof and make them think that it is more advanced than 1960.
So, dummies with Phd’s in physics learn to take prebuilt component A and plug into prebuilt component C to produce a whatever. In other words, they operate at a level well below that of a TV repairman of the 1950’s. Phd’s are issued in such demanding disciplines as filing and typing.
One day the geniuses decide they have had enough and announce that the planet Venus has been found to be not only habitable but a much nicer place than Earth. They start a massive advertising campaign to get everyone to leave and go there. They launch rockets packed with eager dummy tourists until all the dummies are gone – into the Sun or somewhere.
Just for the people who are thinking this isn’t such a terrible idea…
Once an “agent” of the government (this is loosely defined to include even Food Gestapo employees) is your home, anything “wrong” they see can be the basis for a later police or government search of your home.
In the U.S., this is known as the “plain view” doctrine. If someone, like a state official, is in your home legally, anything they see that could be contraband or unlawful can and will lead to an eventual search of your home. It might not work the exact same way in the U.K., but it has to work at least somewhat similarly.
Did you leave your evil and illegal cigarettes out on the table? Is the barrel of your hunting rifle sitting over the fireplace longer than the legal length? Is your space heater responsible for excess heat that you aren’t paying carbon taxes on?
I don’t normally take strong positions on the BC, but this is monumentally ignorant and dangerous. Those of you in favor of it either need to realize what is really at stake, or just nod your head and smile when the Green Police or the Carbon Police are kicking down your door.
Is your laptop opened to a webpage espousing hate speech?
There is no 1st Amendment in the U.K.
Kaba – didn’t see your post before. Well said.
We have our own interesting nanny state issue about to rock the USA on Feb 10 when the Consuer Products Safety Improvement Act takes effect. We got this well meaning doozy passed for us last August.
It is concerned with lead and phthalates in childrens toys, clothes, shoes, etc.
Lead is well known to be bad for kids (and adults) and the scares due to chinese leaded paint on toys primed the pump for the legislation. Phthalates are suspected endocrine disruptors that are also scary to parents.
So they got banned, ok, seems reasonable so far.
Well the law mandates that all such toys and clothes be tested and any untested items are then classified as hazardous. Uh, hmmm, ok. At this point you might be sensing the potential for logistical and technical arrangements that will need to be made.
Now think about the economics of this. It requires every single piece of childrens clothing, shoes, and toys to be tested. How much inventory will be able to pass this threshold? How many retailers will be able to stock only certified lines of merchandise? How about second hand stores (speaking of leftovers)? This would destroy any recycling of useful clothing and childrens goods through such venerable institutions as Goodwill or the local church garage sale.
In fact the Consumer Products Safety Commission is now desperately trying to arrange “exemptions” to prevent the law from applying to yard sales, second hand stores, and consignment shops.
As a research chemist I can tell you that each test will be expensive, take time, and also require facilities and analytical chemists (who will need certifications…) that don’t exist yet. This will require analytical instruments capable of measuring metals (lead) and other different instruments for measuring organic semivolatiles (phthalates). These instruments, likely ICP-MS and GC-MS, cost between $100k and $250k each, without maintenance or consumables. They also require some fairly skilled personnel.
This is an extremely UNfunded mandate. Traditionally the costs are passed on to the consumers, but these burdens will destroy the retailer before they are able to market the product.
Oh by the way. There’s probably not many plastics made that won’t test positive for phthalates. I’ve done years of analytical work on GC-MS and there was phthalate contamination in every sample that ever touched a plastic surface. Phthalates provide the flexibility to the polymeric materials. They are ubiquitous in our society.
Aren’t childrens toys usually plastic….
We’ll see where this goes shortly.
“”"”"”"”"Damon has a point. I have children who very much want to reduce expenses in the present economic situation. I did not teach them in the 1960s what I learned from my parents out of necessity in the 1930s, who had learned from their immigrant parents in the 1910s. “”"”"”"”
“”"”"”"I challenge you, fellow commenters, to say where today’s young families are getting this education/advice. So, if proper food management and food preparation for many families is a problem,”"”"”"”"
What you’re implying, in taking Damon’s heavily disguised bit of satire seriously, is that the family unit in the western world has been effectively decimated, so you want to roll over and cave to the very kinds of people who helped make this happen just so you would go running to them for help.
Would it not make more sense to insist on a return to sanity and common sense, and yes “family values?” I find it astonishing, baffling, and pathetic that “young families” or “young people” are so infantilized tha they can’t figure out the leftovers concept, or why it should even be considered wothwhile to waste any sociopolitical or bureaucratic energy on something as trivial as encouraging the keeping of leftovers in a society that — deep recession or not — is still one of abundance. And, by the way, I’m willing to bet a whole bunch of money that plenty of young people/families/teen trolls, whatever, are perfectly capable and economical in their food choices and food preparation, and don’t need anybody’s help, thank you very much.
Ricpic,
Rudeness. Ridicule, sarcasm, a thoroughly bad attitude,and a laugh in their face. There’s the solution. I can barely wait till those chow commissars arrive unbidden at my door. It will be fun.
“I challenge you, fellow commenters, to say where today’s young families are getting this education/advice. So, if proper food management and food preparation for many families is a problem…?
Google LDS Food storage, for starters. There are massive amounts of information to be digested. Even some government sites are helpful, if you visit (just don’t subscribe to them)!!!!
The fix for this is simple.
Folks in England need to kill, cook and eat the food champions when they show up, problem solved.
barry 0351,
Absolutely! Think of the advertising slogans:
“Food champions are champion food!”
“Long Pig – the other, other White meat.”
I agree entirely with buckets at 74.
I do concede that Damon has a point, but in saner times simple and helpful programs on BBC tv and radio would have been seen as the answer, instead of which the BBC now offers a diet of foul-mouthed and obnoxious “celebrity chefs”.
The whole Food Champions idea simply reeks of intrusion.