23rd December 2021
Keep a look out when you are outside – there is lots of wild life to see: starlings and blue tits on the bird feeders, robins in the trees and even bumble bees. These bees don’t hibernate but rely on winter flowering plants.
22nd December 2021
Make a Christmas banner. This one is made from felt to hang indoors. I have used 100% wool felt rather than the more widely available polyester felt as it is kinder to the environment.
22nd December 2021
Sugar sweet?
Sugar cane is the source of about 80% of the sugar consumed across the world. It is a plantation crop that goes back centuries and has a history linked with exploitation and slavery. As a plantation crop it has been responsible for the deforestation of tropical landscapes and as demand for sugar continues to increase this is still on going – especially in Brazil where sugar cane is also grown to produce the fuel ethanol: ‘The Atlantic Forest, or Mata Atlântica in Portuguese, is found on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. It should be full of life, supporting thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else. It’s different from the Amazon rainforest but equally important. Around 500 years ago it would have covered an area of more than 1.5 million square kilometres. Now, more than 90% of it is gone, cleared mostly for timber, pasture and sugar.’ (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/sugar-a-killer-crop.html)
Sugar cane occupies approximately 2.4 million hectare world wide. 70% of production is for domestic use (which for example would include the production of ethanol in Brazil) but for some countries the production of sugar for export constitutes a significant part of their national income eg Cuba and Belize. Volatile global prices makes for great uncertainty for local growers/ plantation workers who can do little to control their incomes. Whilst the premium paid through the Fair Trade scheme undoubtedly helps, the production of fair trade sugar – 528,000 tonnes – is a fraction of the 200 million tonnes of sugar produced globally (2019).
Sugar cane as a crop, aside from the issue of deforestation, has unwanted adverse affects on people and the environment.
Alternative sugar crops are grown, of which the main one is sugar beet – accounting for about 20% of world production – which is grown mainly in Europe. It too can be reliant on pesticides and fertilisers: organic sugar beet is grown in Europe but not as yet in Britain. Other sugar crops include coconut palms and oil palms where the sap is harvested.
There is a further downside to all sugars: sugar damages our health, causing major problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. The WHO urges that sugar consumer should be reduced to between 5 and 10% of a person’s daily calorie intake. The NHS advises sugar consumption be limited to less than 30g per day: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/ Yet sugar consumption globally is still rising. The USA tops the charts with an average consumption of 126.4g per person per day. Britain comes in at number 7 with 93.2g per day (2019).
As well as being concerned about the damage sugar growing causes to the environment and it’s work force, should we be acting to reduce the demand for this commodity?
“Too often, divisions in civil society can be exploited by powerful commercial interests. ‘Don’t go too hard on health, as it will threaten jobs’ or ‘Don’t raise pollution standards, as they’ll be undercut by another country somewhere’ or ‘Don’t mention labour pay rates, or we’ll drop the preferred status.’ Or ‘Don’t stop sugar beet as it’ll affect tourism brought by geese feeding on sugar beet tops in winter’. Such horse-trading happens in realpolitik, of course, but we think now is the time to take the sugar debate back to ecological public health basics: land, labour, capital, health and culture…We see this future food world as one where less not more sugar is produced and consumed, and land use and labour are liberated from the folly of sugar production. This is hardly a vital product. It has been injected into culinary culture on a scale it does not deserve. Nor should a sugar reduction strategy be compensated for by a growth in use of artificial sweeteners which industry constantly seeks. Artificials, whether relatively ‘old’ such as aspartame or ‘new’ such as stevia, merely normalise the sweetening of diet as well as maintain the processing industries’ option to sweeten a product to sell it.” https://foodresearch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2015/06/Does-Sugar-Pass-the-Environmental-and-Social-Test-23-june.pdf
21st December 2021
Christmas is often a time when we have more to recycle and possibly a reduced collection service. Both recycling bins and recycling lorries have a limited capacity in terms of volume. Now is a good time to see your recycling box as a Tetris puzzle. By careful stacking, interlacing and flattening, how much can you fit it?
Paper and card: fold and flatten and place in recycling bin. In the Borough of Richmond, this is the blue box. Cardboard and paper should be clean with plastic tape removed. It should be dry and free from paint and glue etc – although Richmond’s recycling company says small amounts are not a problem.
Glass: jars and bottles should be rinsed clean before going into the recycling box. In Richmond this is the black box. Lids can be left in place.
Tins: steel and aluminium tin food and drinks can all be recycled. Clean and flatten them (if possible) before placing them in the recycling bin. Again in Richmond this is the black box. You can also recycle aerosol cans. Aluminium foil can also be recycled. Ensure it is clean and squash the foil together to make one lump. This prevents small pieces of foil getting lost.
Batteries and light bulbs: these can usually be recycled at the stores where they are sold. In East Sheen batteries can be recycled at Waitrose, Boots and Robert Dyas and the latter also recycle light bulbs.
Plastics
Milk cartons and bottles, shampoo and laundry/ cleaning liquid bottles, ice-cream and margerine tubs, food trays, and yogurt, dessert or cream tubs: these should be cleaned and flattened before being placed in your recycling box. In Richmond this is the black box.
Plastic bags: these can be recycled at most supermarkets along with other thin plastic wrappings such as from around magazines and toilet rolls, bubble wrap, bread bags and bags for frozen foods.
Scrunchable or soft plastics: these can be recycled at some supermarkets including some Tesco and Sainbury stores and most Co-ops. Local to East Sheen this includes Tesco Metro in Richmond (ask at the customer services desk) the Coop store in Putney and the Coop service station at Roehampton Vale. These plastics include biscuit and sweet wrappers, crisp packets, cling film, plastic bags for salads, pouches from both food and cleaning products, as well as the previously described plastic bags.
Blister packs from medicines etc: these can be recycled at Superdrug – ask at the pharmacy counter.
Polystyrene and plastic foam: these plastics cannot currently be recycled.
Compostable plastic-looking bags: some manufactures pack their newspaper, magazine, dried goods etc in bags made from corn starch or similar. This is not plastic and must not go in with plastics for recycling. It will be clear.y marked as compostable and should go into your garden compost bin or your food recycling bin. Domestic compost heaps don’t reach high temperatures and these bags may take a couple of seasons to break down – be patient!
Compostable cutlery, cups and bowls etc: these may look like plastic, especially the cutlery. They should be marked as compostable and should go into your garden compost bin or your food recycling bin.
Pens: worn out pens including felt tip pens and highlighters are recycled via TerraCycle and can be dropped off at your local Ryman store.
Postage stamps: you will probably get more of these at this time of year. They are often collected by charities as a means of raising funds. Eg RNIB https://www.rnib.org.uk/donations-and-fundraising/fundraising-your-community/stamps-appeal and Against Breast Cancer https://www.againstbreastcancer.org.uk/recycling/used-stamps/
20th December 2021
‘“Supermarket chains play the role of gatekeeper, deciding how food is produced, the (low) prices paid to farmers and what fills the shelves,” as authors of the People’s Food Policy put it. Based on convenience and the suggestion of low prices, supermarkets maximise profit margins often at the expense of people and the environment.’ This short quote comes from a review of supermarkets by Ethical Consumer + https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/shopping-guide/supermarkets
If we cannot count on supermarkets to act sustainably, we should we be using our purchasing power to show what kind of world we want to live in. You might choose to subscribe to the Ethical Consumer magazine to keep up to date with the ethical performance of retailers and their products.
19th December 2021
Mincemeat griddle scone: quick to make without the need to heat the oven.
230g flour (I used spelt) plus 2 tsp baking powder or use self raising flour. 60g vegan butter
Rub the butter into the flour. Mix to a soft dough using vegan milk. Divide the dough into two and roll/pat out each into a circle a little smaller than your frying pan.
Start warming up your frying pan.
When hot add a little oil and one round of scone mix. Place mincemeat on top of the dough leaving a 2cm edge. Cover with the second round of dough and press firmly around the edges.
Bake until cooked on the bottom (8-10 minutes). The turn over to cook the other side.
19th December 2021
Micah 5:2-5a
You, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
and he shall be the one of peace.
Canticle: The Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Hebrews 10:5-10
When Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body you have prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’
(in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Luke 1:39-45
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Reflection
The prophet Micah describes the Bethlehem as one of the smallest of the clans of Judah – as if each town in the lands belonging to Judah was a subset – or in terms of the Scottish clan system, a ‘sept’ – of the tribe of Judah. This would for example make Joseph, who was a of the tribe of Judah, a member of the sept of Bethlehem being his home town.
God’s chosen one, says Micah, will come from this little clan – we might thus describe him as one of the little people. But despite this, he will establish his rule and will bring together all his fellows – all the other little people – and, shepherd-like, feed them. And for feed, we might understand this to be not just with food but with the all that will sustain them. And who are these little people? Those whose work is often overlooked, who do not wield power or influence, those who are not valued, who are seen as dispensable – labourers and factory workers, carers and shop staff, those with mental or physical disabilities, those who are homeless, jobless, stateless , and children especially those from poor backgrounds. And there are others who are also ‘little people’. Those who are humble, self deprecating, those who are child-like and transparent, those who do not boss others around, who do not think they have an inherent superiority or importance, those who willingly relinquish power and wealth. These are the little people that Christ comes for, these are the ones he calls to be his people, his sheep.
And it seems to me, that anyone can become a little person. For we can all become child-like, become humble and open, we can all let go of power and wealth, of our sense of status and self importance.
And when everyone becomes a little person, then will we have peace!
The Magnificat reminds us that Mary was one of the little people. A woman – not even with the status of being a wife, a young person with no special status, a resident of Nazareth (a not very important place).. Someone who could describe themselves as a lowly servant, but equally sufficiently honest to see that in God eyes they were important. In this paean, Mary understands that God plans for the ‘big’ people – those who are self important, proud, privileged, powerful, the rich, those indifferent to others – to be transformed – reformed – as little people. And this is how the hungry will be fed. This is how God’s will from the beginning of time is to be fulfilled.
We have only to look around the world and see that if all the ‘big’ people became little people, then there would be food and resources for everyone. Will this happen this Christmas?
The writer of Hebrews tells us that Christ was not to be the recipient of sacrifices and burnt offerings, but to be the recipient of a body. The human body is a gift we have all been given, from Adam onwards. It is a gift to be treasured and to be used aright: ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ says Christ. This response echoes that of Mary – ‘let it be to me according to your word.’- and contrary to Adam’s ignoring of God’s will. We too are invited to respond like Mary, like Christ, and to offer ourselves – in our bodies – to be incarnate doers of God’s will. The writer of Hebrews further reminds us, that as Christ has shared our humanity, so our bodies too have been made holy.
And in the passage from Luke’s gospel, we hear how Christ in the process of becoming full incarnate – a growing embryo in Mary’s womb. – is already transforming the world. The unborn John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb – just as I am sure, Elizabeth too leapt, if not physically, then metaphorically, recognising intuitively the astounding fact of God’s presence with them in human form. Will we leap with joy this Christmas as once again we re-member that God is present with us in our human body?
18th December 2021
A pine cone angel: made from a pine cone, a gold paper/ thin card face all strung together with embroidery silk, and with wings made from felt and wedged into place (glue could be used for extra security).
17th December 2021
Fossil fuel energy we know causes air pollution and CO2 pollution whilst other sources of power do not have the same damaging consequences. One such clean energy source is wind – and wind farms are growing around our coasts – but how about that older type of windmill, the one used to mill flour?
Priors Flour is milled at Fosters Mill in Swaffham Prior. The current mill was built in 1857 but stands on on a site where mills have been in use site since the 12th Century. Fortunately not only are their people still skilled in the craft of milling, there are also people skilled at repairing and building new parts for the mill. The following link shows the work currently being undertaken to keep the mill fully operational. https://www.priorsflour.co.uk/christmas-opening-smock-mill-update/?mc_cid=5361ffc79c&mc_eid=17002b1305
NB you can buy flour from the mill by mail order, and good flour it is too!
The Green Tau 