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In 1946 Geoffrey Pyke, an eminently sane scientist, put forward the idea of using what little coal there was to refine sugar rather than feeding it to locomotives. Human muscles would make far better use of the energy than steam engines. The problem Pyke tried to tackle remains essentially unsolved: where is the power for food production to come from?

Final preparations for Dublin Gastronomy Symposium #DGS2018 completed. Looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones and, I hope, to recording some of the fabulous speakers for forthcoming episodes.

Fish, bread, Indian food and butter; something for everyone.

How do farmers’ markets and concentrated food industries that depend on long food chains stack up when it comes to food-borne illness? Truth is, nobody really knows.

Sending food and drink across the sea, then and now. Hiding behind green labels. To soak or not to soak. And more on mothers’ milk.

Phil Howard, of Michigan State University, casually let slip in our conversation about concentration in the food industry that a brewery in Australia had been fined for faux craft beer. I had to investigate. Its quite an interesting story.

The number of firms that own the food brands you see is much smaller than you think. That’s not good for consumers or suppliers.

Having linked to the original piece at 538, it would be remiss of me not to link to these two threads rebutting its main conclusions.

Farmers have long memories, and tend to vote against policies that hurt them directly. Which is rather interesting in light of the trade war launched by the US.

Pigs, but not pigeons or horses. Tosh, but not any old tosh. And that old standby, mother’s milk. It’s all good for you.