Saturday, 5 October 2013

Who are they?

Hey peeps, it's time for another silly competition! Just identify these famous people from their old pics. Remember, no googling... [At last two of them are fairly easy.]

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[In case you haven't seen it, there's an extra post today. Please read it and take action!]

This is ridiculous!

Shapeshifterbelly sent me a link that made my head spin. I know we all love wholesome food here at What Time. Monsanto would love to put an end to clean, ethical, environmentally friendly agriculture and have the whole world at the mercy of their questionable practices.

In an obscene development, a Monsanto executive is winning this year’s “Nobel Prize of agriculture” -- the prestigious World Food Prize -- for creating GMOs. Receiving it legitimizes the sort of rampant genetic modification Monsanto pioneered, and helps validate a ruthless business model that impoverishes farmers and monopolizes our food.

If that wasn't baffling enough, the founder of Syngenta, the same biotech giant joining Bayer in suing Europe to keep selling bee-killing pesticides, will also win the prize -- and with it, a share of the $250,000 prize money. We cannot allow this prize to legitimize frankenfoods and bee killers. The ceremony is in less than two weeks, so we need to act now.

Winning this prize will encourage the wider use of genetically engineered crops and be a huge obstacle to those fighting to investigate the long-term effects of its frankenseeds -- which is exactly what Monsanto wants. In 2008, Monsanto made a $5 million pledge to the World Food Prize Foundation, part of its plan to buy the credibility it can’t legitimately earn. By handing its benefactor this award, the Foundation risks undermining the credibility of the most respected prize in agriculture.

In protest, 81 Councilors of the World Future Council have penned a statement blasting the World Food Prize Foundation for betraying its purpose. In the words of the esteemed authors: “GMO seeds reinforce a model of farming that undermines sustainability of cash-poor farmers, who make up most of the world's hungry… The most dramatic impact of such dependency is in India, where 270,000 farmers, many trapped in debt for buying seeds and chemicals, committed suicide between 1995 and 2012.”

Despite the criticism, Monsanto and Syngenta executives are set to receive their prize on World Food Day, October 16 -- a slap in the face to everyone harmed by their products. We don’t have much time, so we need to publicize this obscene decision -- if enough of us get word of this out, and let people know the World Food Prize is threatening its reputation, we can shame it into choosing a more suitable candidate.

Please sign the petition and spread the word.

Thank you, SSB.

[The regular post will be up shortly]

Friday, 4 October 2013

Lovely French friends

When we first moved to France in October 2007, we met a charming couple who ran a modest but thriving restaurant in a neighbouring village: Tony and Sonia (Tonee and Soni-ah, as they pronounce their names here).

In December that year, disaster struck. Sonia was taking their dog to the vet (the gorgeous Olivier) when she was involved in a terrible accident. The other driver was young, uninsured and he died on the spot. As did the dog. Sonia was in a coma for several weeks. The weather turned nasty, with a lot of snow, which made it very difficult for Tony to visit Sonia in hospital. They have two sons, who had to be picked up from school. Poor Tony would leave whoever was at the cafe in charge and go to the school to get the boys.

Sonia recovered, but she was left mildly brain damaged, and couldn't work at the restaurant as actively as she did before the accident. Things started slowing down. They would be open during the day, but couldn't have dinners on a regular basis. There were some special evenings when they served moules & frites. Tony and Sonia were always incredibly hospitable.

They finally sold out in 2011 and moved away. Tony had been a truck driver with a passion for food and during his years as a chef, he just learned as he went along. He made the most amazing desserts, delicious and beautifully presented. [The images of desserts are from the googles, but they look exactly like Tony's.]





We don't see them very often these days, but when we do, it's always a great pleasure!


Today we talked about them and really hope to see them again soon.