Consumed is one of the most terrifying books I’ve read. Sarah Elton’s research efforts add up to a 350-page warning about the depressing race to find a food solution by 2050, the year past when mistakes are predicted to come home to roost. Even worse, when the Canadian journalist offers up hopeful alternatives from her research travels – a successful organic and sustainable farm in the Indian province of Maharashtra; a boutique cheese-producing venture in France’s Aubrac region among them – they seem no match for the might of an industrial food system that “has broken our connection with nature”.
Big Farming is undeniably part of the problem, with its genetically modified seed hybrids providing just one example of why: each variety requires soil-damaging chemicals, which are creating new herbicide-resistant weeds that threaten entire crops. It’s all complicated and mind-boggling, but the takeaway here for a society of increasingly convenience-obsessed individuals is that things need to change, and change fast. At the very least, Elton argues, we need to break away from “bigger and faster is better” thinking, and make better choices when it comes to what we eat, where it comes from and how it is grown.
amcqueen@thenational.ae
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
