America calls on UK to advocate cluster bombs

When a cluster bomb explodes the damage is wide-ranging and ruthless. Expelling several “bomblets” upon contact can cause serious damage to the target be it infrastructure, building or human. In addition, many bombs do not explode on contact; they lie dormant and continue to pose a silent, but deadly threat to civilians long after the conflict has ended. It is because of this threat to non-combatants that public pressure demanded a ban on these cruel bombs. Now, three years after the Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted, 108 states have signed the agreement.

What sounds like a triumph by over half the world’s governments is now being undermined by attempts to pass a new international law which permits the use of such inhumane and callous weapons. The pressure for this law comes just before the conference for the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva during which delegates will decide their position on the law. The pressure for such a change is coming from America, China and Russia who are the main exporters of such weapons. The “watered-down” version of the law, proposed by Washington, would see the re-emergence of cluster bombs in times of conflict, resulting in continued endangerment of the innocent people who live nearby – all in the name of better trade and bigger profits.

Countries such as Mexico, Norway and Austria are making a stand against this reckless decision. It remains to be seen whether countries such as France, Germany and the UK will allow themselves to be bullied into going against the views of the public and the basic humanitarian values considered so fundamental to our society. The call for compromise on a weapon designed to cause maximum harm and offers no suggestion of restraint during times of conflict is absurd. The indiscriminate nature of cluster bombs which is responsible for inflicting a cruel death to many and a slow suffering to many more was one of the main reasons why 22 out of 28 NATO allies signed up to the agreement to ban their use, now they must ask themselves – what’s changed?

Day Five - Nearly there..

My morning starts as normal, a big bowl of porridge with honey and banana to see me through the morning's lectures... but whilst wolfing it down and packing my bag at the same time I find a moment to consider my choice of honey.. A little while ago I was shopping and stumbled across an ethical dilemma in the form of my favourite porridge accompaniment; To buy local, organic honey... or to buy Fairtrade honey from Africa? Is it better to support local farmers and "eat local" or to ensure farmers in developing worlds have a fair price for their produce? After a good ten minutes standing in the condiments aisle, I reached a conclusion - I chose local. And I'll tell you why... Local food means less greed from the West for goods from other countries (which we can amply supply ourselves), less food miles and, therefore less contribution to climate change. Food miles, for all you non-climate-change-geeks refer to the distance your food has travelled to get to you. Another prime example from my day was my Golden Delicious apple straight from Somerset down the road... NOT from America. The mind boggles that so many of the foods we can grow in Britain are being bought from far off places and thus the transport required to bring them to your "local" supermarket is having a huge effect on the planet. I also snapped this photo of some blueberries in Sainsbury's today... Enough said.

How does this effect food shortages? As temperatures rise, crop yields will fall – possibly to half of their current levels in some African countries. At the same time, extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts and floods will get worse and happen more often, and the seasons that people rely on to grow crops will get even more unpredictable. The world’s governments have dragged their feet for too long. It's time to stop listening to industrial lobbies – and start dealing with a situation that’s only going to get more urgent.


Later on I have some stirfry vegetables bought from the local grocers (which is hugely better value than any supermarket in town!) and I've got to say, I'm feeling all the more healthier for it!

Day Four - Still Alive

Another successful day and I've got to admit, this isn't as hard as expected. Granted, I miss being able to steal a spoonful of my friend's dinner without having to ask for a list of ingredients. And actually I would have loved a slither of cheese on my bread to liven up the meal.... But in general, I still look forward to my meals and have less to worry about in terms of sell-by dates and funny smelling chicken... Today's menu was some bran flakes and soy milk for breakfast, some soup for lunch and after a long day I return home for some ratatouille for dinner... deliscious! Home here is used tentatively as I actually mean my uni halls, but regardless of its box-like quality I feel I have made it homely enough to be called home at least for now. Another of Oxfam's initiatives is to ensure farmers everywhere are protected from having their home stolen fromt them.

Since the food price spikes of 2008, wealthy companies have invested heavily in cheap agricultural land in poor countries, often for commercial use. But in many cases, the land sold is actually being used by poor families to grow food. These families are often forcibly evicted with little or no warning or compensation, and in many cases the land is either left idle by investors who know it will only grow in value, or used in ways that reduce food production. So it's time for effective global rules to get land grabs under control – rules which ensure local communities see the benefits of investments and which help make sure that governments provide secure access to land for smallholder farmers, and especially women. 

Day Three - Unfair food prices = A big food crisis!

So today, I'm hitting the Fairtrade. Bananas, tea, chocolate, apricots, coffee, sugar, spices, wine... you name it, Fairtrade do it. But why is it good to buy Fairtrade? Well let's start with the issue here....

After decades of progress, the number of people without enough to eat is actually increasing, and food price spikes are a big part of the problem. That's because, when you spend up to 75% of your weekly income on food – as many poor families are forced to do – sudden rises have an especially destructive effect. Price spikes have many causes – the changing climate, oil prices, dysfunctional commodities markets, biofuels policies that mean crops end up in cars and not on plates – but what's clear is that we are facing a whole new challenge. It's time for governments to work together to deal with food price crises effectively – and to tackle the problems that mean millions of people can't afford enough to eat.

There is a whole host of issues targeted by the Food Prices aspect of Oxfam's GROW campaign but encouraging people to buy Fairtrade can provide financial security for farmers in developing countries. The cost of fairtrade produce compared to regular products is incredibly low when one considers the effect it is having in people's lives across the world. Not only does it ensure a fair wage, but it also promises the price for their goods will not fluctuate in a way that puts people dangerously close to poverty. Also, that extra few pence from you can stretch to providing community facilities such as schools, agricultural equipment and hospitals - thus breaking the cycle of poverty. Suddenly my banana and orange juice seems like more than just a refreshing way to start the day...

Day Two - Please don't panic, it's Organic

If there is one food which I am determined will keep me going throughout my time at University, it's porridge. Luckily, in all its gloopy goodness, its also a pretty "good" food as far as I can tell; Scottish Oats which have actually come from Scotland have relatively low food miles. However, organic oats would undoubtedly be better as conventionally grown crops are sprayed with significant amounts of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and chemical fertilizers. The soil becomes more and more depleted until it is so devoid of life and nutrients that it can no longer be farmed on at all. American food corporations are already buying land to farm in other countries because of this (resulting in even more problems such as deforestation and the destruction of indigenous people's homes). Eventually we will run out of land to farm. What will happen then?

Part of Oxfam's GROW campaign highlights the devastation caused by Intensive Farming in developed nations. Following a century of increases, crop yields are flatlining – because intensive farming can only go so far. So it's time to focus on the huge untapped potential of small-scale farmers in developing countries – and especially on women, who often do most of the work for little reward. Already, 500 million small farms help to put food on the plates of two billion people – or one in three people on earth. And with effective government support and a focus on sustainable techniques, productivity can soar. In Vietnam, for instance, the number of hungry people has halved in just 12 years – a transformation kick-started by government investment in small farmers. It's time to change the way the world thinks about growing food.

Having considered this, I opted for locally grown organic tomatoes and some organic falafel for lunch; delicious and guilt free!

Shopping for Soya

Refusing to be put off by my breakfast encounter I head off to the shops for some soy stuff! Having discovered Sainsbury's local do not sell rice milk, I decide to give soy a go instead. Although, having tried it previously, I prefer the sweetness of rice milk, I remain optimistic about the soy option... especially since it is just 1p more than normal milk (90p for two pints compared to 89p) and there is a "light" option! Although, at just 68 calories a glass compared to the 83 found in normal milk, and the fact that it is lower in fat - its already a much healthier option! I also pick up some soy yoghurt's and have one of those with some muesli when I get home... even as a self-confessed yoghurt snob, I can't tell the difference!

Monday morning mistakes..

Who would have thought it? Such a friendly looking loaf of malty-fruity goodness is actually a poverty causing, climate change inducing, nasty food! Okay so perhaps I'm being a little too harsh on the old Soreen loaf... However, I was surprised (and extremely morose) to see that what is undoubtedly one of my favourite snacks will have to remain in the cupboard for a week as it contains dried whey from cows milk.. an absolute no-no for the vegan diet I am following. Unfortunately such a discovery was made after I had eaten half a loaf for breakfast... It's going to be a long week.

But why try vegan? Large scale farming, whether for meat or dairy, has a devastating impact on the subtle web of connections that sustains life on our planet. Rain forests are leveled to raise cattle, factory farms pollute rivers and lakes, over-grazing erodes fertile land into arid desert, and vast quantities of energy and water are wasted to raise animals for food. At sea, huge fishing drift nets turn acres of ocean into graveyards.

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,” - U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Dr. Henning Steinfeld

Our reliance on animals has got out of hand; it takes 8 times as much fossil fuel to produce animal protein as it does to produce plant protein which can have significant effects on the world we live in. Even if its just switching one day a week (such as the Meat-free Mondays campaign), it can make a huge difference to your carbon footprint.

Eating with your head?

When considering "good food" and "bad food" you would not be alone in assuming that good foods are nutritional, healthy and fresh whilst bad foods are processed, high calorie and low nutrion. Whilst this is a perfectly adequate definition and will undoubtedly lead you to a balanced diet, there could well be more to it than this...

So let's start with the obvious... Processed food. I hardly need to say that food which has been pre-prepared and pumped full of sweetners, stabilizers, emolsifiers, preservatives, sodium and saturated fats are not good for you. But are those extra few inches around your stomach the only down fall of processed food? Landfill, toxins in the water system and soil and the food miles required to combine different ingredients in one pot all add up to make a bigger, nastier picture. But perhaps the most diasterous consequence is not anything so immediate, it is the "fast-food culture" which is encouraged- if not facilitated by - cheap, throw-away food! People do not value food when it comes so easily and, as I hope to illustrate throughout the week, this is not good news for the planet or its inhabitants.

Day One - Give it a grow!

Okay, so by the look on my flatmate's face as he read through this week’s shopping list, I haven't quite convinced him... But the purpose of this week is not to convert the world to some radical new regime. It’s simple; think outside the shopping trolley!

Oxfam do some amazing work across the world which offers help to those most vulnerable after a crisis, enables people to build a sustainable livelihood and campaigns for a compassionate and just future. The most recent of such campaigns is called GROW. It focuses on the ever unavoidable question of world hunger and highlights the following four area's as the main issues

• Land grabs
• Food prices
• Climate change
• Loss of small scale agriculture

Now, STAY CALM. This is not as scary as it seems... not for you anyway. The issues are remarkably easy to understand, but the way they interact with each other and the hugely changeable world in which we live is complex meaning there is no simple answer. In order to make this all a bit easier to digest (excuse the pun), I am going to explain one of these issues each day in my blog as I negotiate my way through a week’s ethical eating.

Ethical Eating... How hard could it be?

"Sure" I said, "Spending a week eating only 'good' foods...That sounds easy enough!"

This week is Oxfam's GROW week and I, like many other Oxfam supporters across the world, am taking action to highlight the issues that surround our food system. And it truly is a global inititive; Rural Women’s Assembly in Pretoria, a food festival in Peru with crowds in the hundreds of thousands, The crowning of a female food hero in Tanzania, Food photography competitions in Germany and Vietnam, GROW dinner parties in Italy, Australia, Canada, Armenia, the UK and America, a cook-off in Burkina Faso and a women’s food market in the Philippines are just some of the events taking place!

But what is GROW? More to the point, what are 'good' foods? And why bother doing anything at all?
Throughout the week I will be blogging into some of these questions in search for some answers.

Recently, I stumbled across this website (http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/) and I'm converted already. Unfortunately my stumble came two days after their big annual event "one day without shoes", but I am already excited to take part next year! The slogan is "one for one" and sums up the organisation perfectly; the organisation promises to provide one pair of shoes to someone in a developing country for every pair purchased. They're simple, practical and, thanks to the amount of celebrity endorsement (names such as Charlize Theron) very fashionable! There seems to be a huge amount of support for the movement in the US but not as much over here... nevertheless the message, as illustrated on the website, is that by going without shoes it creates curiosity which leads to discussion and, eventually, change. The idea is to raise awareness about the various problems - which range from postural to infection and disease - facing people who have to walk miles over difficult terrain every day with out shoes. Now I've read the information on the site the issue seems an obvious one. But I think it is often assumed that people who don't live as we do are used to walking without shoes in a way which we could never imagine doing, or indeed that shoes would be the least of their worries. But having shoes really can change the way people live now and the way they live their futures.

If you ever want to see your spoons again...

 

As strange as taking spoons hostage may sound, I assure you the motives behind it are far more rational. For months now I, on behalf of fellow students, have plagued the canteen staff with requests for metal cutlery at lunchtimes to no success. Now, I know what you're thinking; no doubt the words irritating and trivial come to mind. However, apart from the fact that they are genuinely pathetic excuses for cutlery and break at the glimpse of anything tougher than mash potato, they are morally wrong. Firstly, in a school of 1600, that's potentially 4800 forks, knives and spoons used and thrown away everyday! Lets forget for a moment that all of this has to be removed and replaced everyday, but the amount of waste that results is unthinkable. After being taken to landfill degradation and decomposition of plastic happens so slowly that that very spoon could outlive you twelve-fold! Additionally, most throw-away plastics are petroleum based meaning they are even worse for the environment! So, amongst the tuts and sighs from those less green members of the sixth form, I started to steal the cutlery. My names Abigail and I steal cutlery. With help from a few friends who agreed to house the fugitives in their lockers we have eliminated plastic from our canteen. Now the question is... what does one do with several lockers worth of stolen plastic spoons? Suggestions on a postcard.

Shhh... they might hear you

I highly doubt any young person has not heard, or in fact become enraged, at the latest headlines regarding the possible rise in university tuition fees. However, on the 10th of November NUS is arranging a demo in London against this decision and thousands of students will surely take to the streets to stand up for a decision which, despite not affecting them directly, is a student issue.

Now, I am currently Head Girl at my school; a school which prides itself on its active student voice team. Yet, the national student voice group within our school have been told they are not allowed to publicise, let along attend, the event! Despite having a team of passionate, outspoken students who are assigned roles withing Student Voice...."Perhaps a letter would be a more appropriate way of expressing the student perspective."

Personally, I do not feel it is right to rely on others to fight the battles in which all students bound for higher education are involved.. and I would urge you to do the same.

An Education

I was recently reading an article about the teaching of sexual education in schools with regards to different religious views. In particular, this article referred to the many complaints from the Christian parents of students at several junior schools. The issue they raised against the teaching of basic sexual education to their children was that it "perverted basic christian virtues". Now, I am not a Christian so therefore may be misinterpreting something here, but I cannot understand how any parent or any child can wish ignorance upon their child...especially when the subject is something that is becoming increasingly current; it is naive to think that children are or can be "kept children" like they used to be given the influences of today. I was also concerned that the comments from parents indicated it was only Christian who have these "basic morals" installed in them!
A religion does not ensure nor equate to decent behaviour and an understanding of "basic morals" and sooner or later, every child needs to know what is being taught.

The children of Gaza

The Children of Gaza. Before watching the documentary I admit I hadn’t thought past the children who might be injured directly in conflict. The dispatches documentary on channel four was a real eye opener to the long term injustice that exists without, it seems, much support. "Where are the human rights organisations?" one man asked... Of course it would be naive to expect a counsellor for each child scared by war, but is that what is really necessary? The scarring of war goes deeper than the wounds children recover from. It is the confusion, the misplaced guilt and the fear that no child should know. It seems in this situation the children’s mental well being is being forgotten assuming their physical state is okay... which of course is not even the case in the majority of instances. But what was deeply disturbing to see was the children’s rationale of the entire thing; despite their mature acknowledgement of the practical aspects of war... there is an underlying disturbance in their violent play which includes mock torture and abuse. Additionally the undertone of wars influence is included in the aspirations of the youth... is it really right for little boys of seven to be encouraged and to openly crave vengeance for the death of a man? It is an issue which is hard to address in a culture depicted by violence and written off as a lost cause which could not possibly be compared to the ultra-comforting, overly-nurturing environment which we expect for children in the UK... right?

My first blog..

Having never written a blog before, I'm not entirely sure how to begin. I am under no illusions that anyone will read this but aim to use it more as a diary... The idea being that through writing about... well, anything... I will develop my thoughts and improve my expression of them in the hope that, one day, someone will want to read them.

I think that's enough of an introduction. I will perhaps begin with a rant... I can only pray this will not be the enduring theme... We'll see.

This weekend I went to Paris with my school for a conference about the future of young people in the EU where several speakers had a captive audience of hundreds of young people from across England. One such speaker was Kate Hoey, Labour MP, who spoke out about her views that the voting age should be lowered to 16... and then stopped. Later, Caroline Flint spoke about the curriculum including decision making at a young age, in order to build their democratic skills...and then stopped.

Needless to say the important issue behind their words was not heard loud and clear by the audience who, despite being of the considered age and having an interest in politics were left unconvinced. Lowering the voting age would enable young people to have a say in the world they are expected to take responsibility for.... having children, getting married and joining the armed forces are a possibility at 16. Admittedly, as Caroline Flint argued, this can only be done with parental consent, so why not be able to vote with such consent?

Of course there are those who would abuse the lowering of the voting age... but if between the ages of 16 and 18 you had to apply in order to gain your voting rights this could easily be avoided... how many people would go through the hassle of a registration process "for a laugh"? Not many.

Having said that, isn't it a little harsh to say that because people are young they are all irresponsible? How many 18 and 19 year olds can really own to a informed knowledge of the government they are voting for? How many actually use their vote? I suspect no more or less than a 16 year old would.

Finally, if so concerned about young peoples reckless voting... the answer is simple... EDUCATE! I do not mean Carolines ideas about "team work" in primary school... I mean getting people involved, fired up, interested in the workings and causes of politics so that when they come to vote... they want to because they know who they support and why!

Would it not be more beneficial to encourage consideration than to delay ignorance?