Food and Farming

As the bluetongue virus sinks its teeth into British livestock, there is one appalling certainty: like the outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease and foot-and-mouth before it, some farmers will see no way out, and take their own lives. Farmers in Britain are the profession second most likely to commit suicide (after, bizarrely, dentistry).

Deep in rural Sussex at Wakehurst Place, in a large nature reserve of 500 acres of National Trust woodlands and lakes, stands the Kew Gardens Biological Research Centre. Sixty feet beneath is a nuclear bunker. This is the British National Doomsday vault, home to the UK’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). If apocalyptic disaster strikes, this bunker will hold key bio-scientists and all remaining plant life.

Two critical markets are pursuing a stressed planet’s renewable resources, presenting policymakers with complex and difficult choices. The Worldwatch Institute’s latest look at Earth’s “vital signs” sees dangerous times ahead as the “sustainability crisis” unfolds. China Dialogue's Maryann Bird investigates

It’s last orders at the bar in a certain vegan pub in a certain British city, and my friend Daisy checks casually, ‘Do you need to get any food in? We could do with a bit of veg…’

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has brushed off the risks posed by climate change to the continent's farmers, saying that a 'sense of proportion' was needed.

The Office of Fair Trading has accused the big four supermarkets of colluding with dairies to artificially increase the cost of dairy foods.

The impact of climate change on world food production will make the public more accepting of genetic modification, the industry believes.

We can all eat well with a little thought and effort. Here's how...

Football's back. Could better quality brews inspire a better standard of play? Well, here's to trying!

A major new study has shown a link between additives in children's food and hyperactivity.

The Indian tuna fish haul is at its lowest level for twelve years, Reuters has reported.

Eco-labelled wine corks have just hit the market in a move to protect cork forests, which are threatened by a switch to metal screw top and plastic stoppers

In the face of food shortages, Indonesia is preparing to turn towards GM crops to feed its 220 million people.

A new study by scientists at the University of Michigan in the US suggests that on farms in industrialised countries, organic farming can produce comparable yields to those achieved by conventional farming.

A private member's bill that would see supermarkets and other retailers forced to take responsibility for the packaging on their goods has been debated in the Commons.