We seem to have settled into a dull second half of July. As I ran around the village this morning one of my nodding acquaintances expressed surprise that I was running in shorts, as if shorts can only be worn when it is baking hot. She went on to say, “At least it’s cool!” In fact it’s not really cool, just not excessively hot. We are never satisfied with the weather, it seems to me; it’s alway too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. And in any case, there is nothing we can do about it.
Recently I have read about plastic made from cactus. Researchers at a university in Mexico have created a biodegradable plastic from the juice of the prickly pear cactus. It breaks down after sitting in soil for a month and if it’s left in water it breaks down in a matter of days. Also, it is not a health hazard to animals who might eat it by accident.
Possibly a step in the right direction but is it perhaps too late? We’ve already been absorbing microplastic particle into our bodies. Can the damage be reversed? And will the manufacturers of the old plastic even let this new one succeed? So much of the modern world is governed by the financial will of the big companies.
Here’s a link to an article about superfoods. It always seems to me that when a new “superfood” is announced it is largely aimed at middle class people who can afford “fancy stuff”, even when like quinoa it’s not really fancy in taste but just trendy. The article tells us this about trendy superfoods:
“Large-scale plant production can lead to the overexploitation of agricultural areas, causing negative impacts on biodiversity and soil health, as well as precarious working conditions for workers,” write Santunione and Montevecchi. They cite goji berries as a particular concern: they need a lot of water, are often grown as a monoculture, and there are questions over fair wages for farmers. Quinoa is more sustainable in terms of water, but increased demand has affected traditional farming practices, may have contributed to soil erosion, and has led to higher prices for local people.”
Ordinary stuff like oats, carrots, peas, tomatoes, even potatoes, should be labelled superfoods. Not very trendy though!
Thinking about food, here’s start of an article about aid distribution in Gaza becoming a dangerous trap for starving people:
“Raed Jamal sends the message shortly after he returns, empty-handed, from an aid distribution point to his tent in the al-Mawasi displacement camp in south-west Gaza. “The tanks came and started firing. Three boys near me were martyred,” says the 36-year-old, who has four children. “I didn’t even get anything, just two empty boxes.”
Jamal’s journey involved a long walk to and from a former residential neighbourhood bulldozed by Israeli forces and turned into one of four militarised aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is based in Delaware in the US.”
Here’s a link to the article.
Moving on to less serious matters, yesterday was a rest day for the cyclists in the Tour de France. So ITV4’s daily summary gave us a resume of the last week’s racing and some background information about some of the cyclists and some of the commentators. Some of the latter have been reporting on the Tour for twenty years or more. It’s amazing how the race has developed over the years. Old footage shows cyclists without helmets, carrying a spare inner-tube over their shoulder in some of the oldest film. Gradually support networks developed and the whole circus of team vehicles came into play. Earlier generations of cyclists would be amazed at the technology involved nowadays.
Today they ride (race) up the Mont Ventoux in Provence, in the south of France.
I’ve been up there years ago, by car. It’s a bleak mountain. I certainly wouldn’t fancy cycling up there. But these are professional cyclists. They can do it, apparently!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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