I’ll let the Adam Smith Institute tell it how it is on how unfair Fair Trade may be and what the alternatives are. You can download a pdf of the report Unfair Trade. “Unfair Trade argues that for all its good intentions, Fairtrade is not fair. Firstly, by guaranteeing certified farmers a minimum price for… Read more »
Monthly Archives:: March 2008
Fairer than fair trade chocolate
One of the founders of Malagasy, a company from the north of England making chocolate in Madagasca, tells how it was established to help with poverty on the island. Like The Grenada Chocolate Company, the idea is to make chocolate locally rather than export a cheap commodity. It’s known as Equitrade. Writing on The Guardian’s… Read more »
Expensive wine tastes better cheap wine – official
Expensive wine does taste better than cheap and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. From Underexposed. The only trouble with wine is the smoke and mirrors in the marketing. Is an expensive wine really that much better than a cheap wine? Surely the differences in the yields of grapes and production can’t make that much… Read more »
One river three regions, pick Chinon now
The Loire is three regions for wine – Muscadet, Savennières and Chinon. Each expresses its own character from its distinctive terroir. In Chinon the reds are made mostly from cabernet franc although since the turn of the century up to 25 per cent of a blend can be Cabernet Sauvignon. According to Eric Assimov in… Read more »
Europe’s top food destination is?
San Sebastian. When I was recently asked to write about the top five food trips for 2008 San Sebastain was right up there. now the BBC food blog has joined the fray. “This is the city with more Michelin stars per head of the population than anywhere else in Europe and a reputation for being… Read more »
The Chinese and Jews
Christian icons are scary to non believers. Who wants to walk into an Italian restaurant and see a carving of some guy being crucified? It is not surprising that trad Italian restaurants can be kinds scary if you are not a Christian. Arthur Schwartz, writing in EGullet says: “That Jews have an affinity for Chinese… Read more »
Eggs Benedict 2.0
They look different and the taste is more concentrated than usual. Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 doesn’t even use the whites in his new version of Eggs Benedict. As Frank Bruni of the New York Times says in The Shape of Eggs benedict to Come: “On the finished plate a column of egg yolk and a… Read more »
Ramsay the guru and the C word
He is topping the ratings on Channel Nine. A few weeks ago it was the C word. Last week he said fuck 80 times in a show and 10 expletives in 45 minutes. This week The Age’s Jim Schembri says “celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay actually channels a very healthy philosophy through his various exposes of… Read more »
Empty shelves worst in Coles
All big grocery retailers are failing to keep their shelves stocked with the basic staples according to a study by the Bailey Group. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Coles and Bi-Lo have always been the worst ofenders but that they are now joined by Woolworths and IGA.
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