Uncategorized – Page 8 – The Green Tau

Green Tau: issue 120

21st November 2025

Why poor diets are a systems issue not just a food issue.

Part 1

Recently The Eat-Lancet Commission updated its Planetary Health Diet. This is a scientifically developed diet that can be followed anywhere in the globe using local, traditional ingredients. As the name ambiguously suggests, it is a diet that both promotes our physical health and planetary health. It is a diet rich in plant based foods with small amounts of fish, meat and dairy items.

The 2025 overview begins with the arresting sentence: “The food we eat is more than a personal choice.” Can what we choose to eat make that much of a difference to the lives of other people?

The report continues: “It is a public issue with global consequences. What we eat affects agricultural land use, greenhouse gas emissions, water availability and quality, labor systems, and public health. Today’s food systems are, in many ways, failing. Millions face hunger, while others suffer from completely preventable chronic diseases. Food production contributes to environmental degradation and deepens inequality, when it could be the primary source of environmental regeneration, and justice. The EAT-LancetCommission’s approach to food addresses these challenges by linking health, sustainability, and justice. It promotes a shift in both consumption and production patterns, making healthy and sustainable food more accessible and reducing pressure on planetary boundaries. Transforming food will require cooperation across sectors, cultures, and regions. But the science is clear: changing what we eat is essential to building a future in which both people and planet can thrive.” (1)

What we choose to eat can shape how much land has to be used to produce our food and if that is less than at present, then more land can be used to restore biodiversity and the natural resilience of the world’s ecosystems.

What we choose to eat can reduce greenhouse emissions and so contribute to ensure a more amenable (or perhaps just less disastrous) environment for everyone.

What we choose to eat can reduce the amount of water needed for agriculture and so can make water available for more essential needs such as drinking and sanitation.

What we choose to eat can have an impact on the welfare given to livestock, the welfare given to the soil, the welfare given to agricultural workers and food producers. (For example a cheap cup of coffee may come at the expense of deforestation where the beans are grown, at the expense of an inadequate price paid to the person growing and processing the beans, at the expense of a poorly paid barista, and at the expense of society if the coffee chain doesn’t pay its taxes. (2))

So yes, the EAT-Lancet Commission is clear that diet is not just about the food we eat but also about the systems that being the food from the farm to the plate. And not only that, these systems also impact our health not just through the food produced but through the impact that food production has on our environment – and thus on our health – and that it has an impact on incomes earned by those in the food industry which again (as we will see in more detail below, impacts health.

Part 2

In many way the Planetary Health Diet as a guide, is not hugely dissimilar from the UK government’s Eat Well diet guide (3) – although the later increases the proportions of plant based foods at the expense of cereals/ starch and animal based foods. This Eat Well guide dates back to 2016 which itself is not very dissimilar to the 2014 guide known as the Eat Well Plate.

The UK government produces a regular National Diet and Nutrition Survey. This is “designed to assess the diet, nutrient intake and nutritional status of the general UK population … is used by UK governments to monitor progress towards achieving diet and nutrition objectives and to develop food and nutrition policies”. (4)

Has the Eat Well guide improved healthy eating in the UK? Sadly not.

According to analysis of the data by Field Doctor, the most recent survey shows :-

only 17% of adults eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetable a day
We eat 100% more sugar, and 25% more saturated fat than is recommended
96% of adults eat an insufficient amount of fibre
18% have sub optimal levels of vitamin D (5)

Whilst the Roadmap for Resilience: A UK Food Plan for 2050 (produced by The Agri-Food for Net Zero Network), notes that under 1% of people in the UK fully meet dietary guidelines and comments: “Poor diets cost the UK dearly – through pressures on the NHS, lost productivity and poor quality of life. Shifting towards healthy diets is a win-win that cuts emissions, saves public money, and helps improve the quality of life and work for productivity.” (6)

And The Broken Plate Report 2025 (produced by the Food Foundation) highlighted the following findings from its research:-:

Over a third of supermarket promotions on food and nonalcoholic drinks are for unhealthy food.
Over a third of food and soft drink advertising spend is on confectionery, snacks, deserts and soft drinks, compared to just 2% on fruit and veg.
Three quarters of the baby and toddler snacks that have front-of-pack promotional claims contain high or medium levels of sugar.

And

On average, healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods, with healthier food increasing in price at twice the rate in the past two years.
To afford the government-recommended diet, the most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food, rising to 70% for those households with children.

And

children in the most deprived fifth of the population are nearly twice as likely to be living with obesity as those in the least deprived fifth by their first year of school
Ditto twice as likely to have tooth decay in their permanent teeth. (7)

Clearly both poverty and the high cost of healthy foods, plays a big part in the unhealthy diets of many people in the UK. Other factors are also relevant, some linked to poverty and inequality such as

lack of access to cooking facilities (especially true of people living in hostels, bed and breakfast or other shared accommodation). Research carried out in 2020 revealed that 1.9 million people in the UK didn’t have a cooker and 900,000 didn’t have a fridge. (8)
Lack of access to local shops selling fresh produce – so called food deserts – affecting 1.2 million people. (9)
Lack of time to prepare and cook meals especially for households juggling multiple jobs and/or long hours (apparently this hasn’t been widely researched (10) but in one recent survey of 2000 adults, 21% sited lack of time as a reason for not eating healthily (11)).

And other factors that have an impact across the board

Power of advertising in promoting ready meals and ultra processed foods. This report from Obesity Action Scotland is very clear as to the advertising has on diets. (12)
Lack of experience of cooking from scratch – again this is area which has received little research so the conclusion is conjecture.

What I think these various surveys show is, that whilst lack of financial resources a major factor in poor diets, unjust social systems may be a more embracing reason. It is unjust social systems that means that households do not have adequate cooking facilities, do not have access to fresh food shops, so not receive adequate incomes and especially so for those households with children. At the same time big businesses have a disproportionate amount of power in influencing what is advertised and to whom, and in controlling (or at least influencing) where and how food is sold, and a major role in continuing to underpay their workforce.

Systems change is essential nationally and globally if we are to ensure everyone has a healthy diet (ideally the Planetary Health Diet) and a healthy environment in which to live.

Postscript

The Food Foundation produced a manifesto report to educate new MPs as to what changes were possible to improve healthy diets for all. https://foodfoundation.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/Election%2024_Manifesto.pdf

(3) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bbb790de5274a22415d7fee/Eatwell_guide_colour_edition.pdf

(4) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023-report

(5) https://www.fielddoctor.co.uk/health-hub/uk-eating-habits-2025

(6) Page 17 https://www.agrifood4netzero.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AFN-ROADMAP-SUMMARY.pdf

(7) https://foodfoundation.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/TFF_BP_At a Glance_FINAL.pdf

(8) https://www.turn2us.org.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/press-releases-and-comments/millions-across-the-uk-are-living-without-household-essentials

(9) https://sheffield.ac.uk/social-sciences/news/12-million-living-uk-food-deserts-studys-shows

(10) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666306003813

(11) https://www.psychreg.org/busy-lifestyles-hinder-healthy-eating-many-britons/

(12) https://www.obesityactionscotland.org/media/as3leiwg/food-and-drink-advertising-briefing-2023.pdf

Counting on … 192

21st November 2025

Deforestation of tropical rainforests also takes place to make space for oil-palm plantations. Palm oil is widely used in products as diverse as hair shampoo and chocolate. Clearing the forest to replace it with a monoculture not only impacts climate change but also biodiversity and a loss of the traditional ways of life of the indigenous inhabitants.

“West Papuan Indigenous people call for KitKat boycott over alleged ecocide” Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands. West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits and Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory. All are products that contain palm oil and are made, say the campaigners, by companies that source the ingredient directly from West Papua, which has been under Indonesian control since 1963 and where thousands of acres of rainforest are being cleared for agriculture.”(1)

This year’s COP has seen a more visible presence of indigenous people and hopefully their particular insights are being listened to and their particular needs incorporated in the decision making processes.

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/west-papua-indigene-bevölkerung-ruft-zum-boykott-von-nestlé-und-mondelēz-produkten-auf-inkl-unternehmenskommentar/

Counting on … 190

19th November 2025

Tipping points – risks and uncertainty

Whilst there is uncertainty around when a certain tipping point maybe reached – and the uncertainty may be as to what temperature rise will trigger the tipping point, or at what date that might happen or at what speed the tipping point will develop its full impact – the risks are real and quantifiable: if sea ice melts sea levels will rise; if temperatures rise and/ or rainfall diminishes, trees will die; if oceans heat up coral reefs will die.

“Despite the uncertainty, tipping points are too risky to ignore. Rising temperatures put people and economies around the world at greater risk of dangerous conditions.

“But there is still room for preventive actions – every fraction of a degree in warming that humans prevent reduces the risk of runaway climate conditions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions slows warming and tipping point risks.

“Tipping points highlight the stakes, but they also underscore the climate choices humanity can still make to stop the damage”. (1)

We cannot afford to ignore these risks: we must hope for success in the negotiations that are ongoing at COP30.

(1) https://theconversation.com/what-are-climate-tipping-points-they-sound-scary-especially-for-ice-sheets-and-oceans-but-theres-still-room-for-optimism-265183

Counting on … 189

18th November 2025

Oceanic tipping points

The oceans redistribute cold and warm water across the globe influencing winds – both direction and intensity – and weather patterns. Ocean currents enable the flow of water from hotter to cooler areas (tropics to the poles) and by the flow of water between areas of higher to lower salt density. Here in the UK we particularly benefit from the warmth that the Atlantic currents bring giving us mild winters and year round rainfall.

The driving force for these ocean currents lies in the artic regions. The density of the cold, saline rich waters causes the waters here to sink and as they do this pulls in warmer waters from the tropics. However as sea ice and icecaps melt, so the water becomes less salty, and less inclined to sink, reducing the energy that pulls the oceanic currents. In the North Atlantic this driving force is known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC.

Here in the UK, our climate and weather patterns are highly dependent on the functioning of AMOC. If this slows or becomes unstable, it will impact temperature and rainfall patterns cross Europe and giving us in the UK and Northern Europe a much colder, wetter climate. And at the same time changing the climate in southern Europe, making it hotter and dryer.

This graphic comes from the IPCC 6th Assessment Report (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/figures/chapter-9/faq-9-3-figure-1)

Whilst there are signs that AMOC is weakening, it is hard for predict quite how quickly and to what degree it will change as global temperatures rise. On the other hand the potential damage a change in AMOC will cause, should make decision-makers focus on avoiding that as a matter of urgency.

“The risk of a critical AMOC transition is real and very serious, even if we cannot confidently predict when and whether this will happen. We have already left behind the stable Holocene climate in which humanity has thrived (Osman et al., 2021), and the latest IPCC report warns us that beyond 1.5°C of global warming, we move into the realm of “high risk” with respect to climate tipping points (IPCC, 2023).” (1)

(1) – https://tos.org/oceanography/article/is-the-atlantic-overturning-circulation-approaching-a-tipping-point

Further information. This webpage depicts what the climate and weather patterns might be like if the AMOC collapses, an event it suggests could happen by 2050 if global temperatures rise by 2+C – https://amocscenarios.org/?lat=45&lon=-5&model=cc_RCP45&is_amoc_on=false&is_delta=false&metric=warm_days

Proper 28

16th November 2025

Reflection with readings below.

What is the future that lies ahead?

Is it a future that brings us fear?

Perhaps we fear the future because the simple passage of time will age us and bring with it the frailties and challenges of old age? Or maybe we at the younger end of life and fear that soon we will have to take on responsibilities that will take time and energy away from simply doing what we want, knowing that someone else will ensure we have food, clean clothes, warm accommodation etc.

Perhaps we fear the effects of climate change – extremes of turbulent weather, food shortages, floods and rising sea levels, more infectious diseases, the loss of nature?

Perhaps we fear the effects of the rising cost of living, of not being able to afford food, or housing, or travel or even children?

Perhaps we fear the threat of war and violence, the terrorisation of right wing politics that seek to divide and oppress?

Perhaps we fear the end of the world? Maybe even Armageddon?

On the other hand, perhaps we have high hopes for the future. Perhaps we can envisage a world that is fairer, where nature flourishes, where everyone has food and water, shelter and healthcare, education and valued employment? Perhaps we can envisage a world where war and conflict exit only in history books? Perhaps we can envisage a world where everyone rose to the challenge of the climate crisis and secured for all future generations a stable, amenable climate?

In the second temple era, which includes Jesus’s earthly lifetime, there were at least two views amongst Jewish groups as to the end of time. On the one hand there was the view that things on earth would get worse and worse – fire, wars, plagues etc – until there was a final day of destruction when only those who have remained faithful, would be saved and would enter God’s kingdom. On the other, there was a view that as more and more people understood and took on board God’s wisdom, more and more people would turn to God – worshipping at God’s holy mountain – and that a new era of peace and prosperity on earth would materialise: heaven on earth. And any combination in between. I think the same polarity exists today within the broad expanse of Christian beliefs.

Today’s passage from Isaiah describes a positive hope for the future, a future where things – people, wildlife and ecosystems – will all flourish as God creates a new heaven and a new earth. This comes after the earlier part of the chapter which focuses on how suffering in various forms will afflict those who go against God’s will

Today’s gospel also focuses on the destruction and suffering that lies ahead for the world but links that with the opportunities for Jesus’s followers to preach the gospel – the goods news that teaches us how we can create a better world. To be active in this way, to maintain confidence that what we try to do to create a better world in the way Jesus envisages, is at times hard. Both hard to achieve and hard to remain hopeful, is difficult. But then Jesus doesn’t promise that it would be otherwise! On this passage Jesus is once again urging his disciples to remain focused on God and to remain open to receiving that wisdom, that guidance from God. And whilst not articulated, to find strength through the support of each other. The disciples have been chosen by Jesus to be a group who journey together, who eat together, pray together, ask questions and seek answers together.

Isaiah 65:17-25

For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.

No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord–
and their descendants as well.

Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent– its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Canticle 9

The First Song of Isaiah

Isaiah 12:2-6

Surely, it is God who saves me; *
I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defence, *
and he will be my Saviour.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *
from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, *
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples; *
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *
and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and, `The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Counting on … 188

17th November 2025

Both loss of the Amazon rainforest and alteration to the oceans’s heat distribution properties are potential tipping points. ie they are physical changes that may be irreversible in the human lifetime and may trigger further destructive climate changes.

Amazon Rainforest:

If too greater proportion of the trees are lost, the Amazon basin will cease to exist as a rainforest. Fewer trees will mean less rainfall. Less rainfall and indigenous trees and plants will not thrive. Indigenous wildlife will die out and and indigenous people will loose their way of life. What was rainforest will become a savannah. The risk of wildfires will increase. Rivers that feed the Amazon basin will dwindle and with them the means of local transport. The lack of rainfall in the Amazon basin will also impact other regions. The daily absorption and release of water (known as flying rivers) carries water out from the basin to feed adjoining areas via the South American monsoons. And whereas the Amazon’s rainforest currently absorbs more CO2 than it releases, as savannah, the region will release more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, further adding to the rise in global temperatures. (1)

https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/amazon-rainforest-at-the-threshold-loss-of-forest-worsens-climate-change

The water of eternal life

15th November 2025

Jesus said … “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14b

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A reading Ezekiel 47:1-12

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple. He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En Gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

“The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty. But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

A response:-

In the beginning

it was a mere drop of water,

a slight dampness on the ground: