#234: Meat - warning labels

An interesting piece on the use of warning labels on meat packaging. 

Published on The Conversation website.

Messages such as “smoking kills” and “smoking causes blindness” alongside a graphic image have been legally required on all tobacco products in the UK since 2008.

It will be interesting to see whether any of this sort of activity actually takes place.

The research referenced can be read here.

Meat consumption is deeply ingrained in Western societies. The United Kingdom is a good example, where according to a recent YouGov poll, 72% of the UK population classify themselves as meat eaters whereas only 7% of Britons classify themselves as either vegetarian or vegan (Dabhade, 2021).

The draft consultation of the specification mentioned the impact of our diet on the planet. This is one of the suggested themes which will be explored. I wonder whether this will survive to the next stage. 

My fear is that anything 'political' or 'meaty' (if you'll forgive the pun) will be removed.

#172: Natural History Reading List #13: 'The Making of the British Landscape' - Nicholas Crane

A cross posting from my GeoLibrary blog which has been on the go for over 10 years. The title of this book is a slight extension of the W.G. Hoskins classic 'The Making of the English Landscape'. 

The book is written by geographer Nicholas Crane who has previously been involved in series such as 'Coast' and 'Map Man'.

There is also a book of the same name by the archaeologist and historian Francis Pryor.

My copy is a signed copy from Topping Books in Ely - a recommended stopping off point if you are in the fine city of Ely.

The book takes a chronological view of the British Isles going back ten thousand+ years to the end of the Ice Age, whem we were still connected to Europe, before sea levels rose and Doggerland was drowned. 

Chapters explore a range of different time periods, set across three 'books' and six discrete sections of the book.

The first section covers the period from 10 000 - 4050 BC - from the Ice Age to the separation of the UK from Europe.

There are looks at fields and enclosure, the impact of the Romans and other arrivals, and the rise of urbanisation. Flint mining, industrial revolution, agricultural change, castle building, Fenland drainage, road building and hill figures are amongst the areas which are explored.

It is clearly written and provides a sprawling story ranging over thousands of years and numerous locations. It reminds us that the landscapes we see today have evolved through a range of changes - rivers have changed course, sea levels have risen and fallen, weathering and erosion have done their work, and people have imposed themselves on the landscape in various ways.

This book is inevitably going to be very useful for some aspects of the sections: Life in the Early World, Natural Shaping of the World and Human Shaping of the World.

We are waiting to see how the detail in the original consultation document will be translated into the subject criteria and ultimately the draft specification. The subject criteria will be used by awarding bodies.