April 13, 2005

Food

Jamie Oliver’s Camper Van Adventure

TV chef Jamie Oliver goes off-grid
TV chef Jamie Oliver to go off-grid alone

So it IS true.

We broke the story TV chef Jamie Oliver ‘s production company denied — and today it was confirmed.

On 24 Feb we announced that Jamie was going to live in a camper van in Italy for his next series. Today he set off on his trip. We wish him well.

Jamie Oliver and wife Jools make a meal of their tearful farewell – as he set off on the six-week cooking tour. The gossip in London’s Primrose Hill is that Jamie is not a happy man. Whether his marriage is truly on the rocks or it is being done for the benefit of the cameras remains to be seen.

Jamie has become a national hero since he reinvented school food, and a knighthood cannot be far off.

Now he will reinvent off-grid cooking. A new TV show will follow Oliver on a trip round Italy in a converted camper van carrying all his kitchen kit.

It is no coincidence at all that Sainsbury’s is overhauling its Italian food range under the single banner of Simply Italian.

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Urban

DIY Carbon offset
We are all carbon neutral now

Marketing firms are cashing in on public concern about the environment to sell PR services rather than solutions.

They claim to be able to create offset projects such as woodlands to absorb all the harmful carbon dioxide emitted by individuals, firms, or meetings. One example of this worrying trend is the UK-based Future Forests, which sells a so-called patented carbon-neutral label to clients. Unlike companies such as EcoSecurities, Future Forests concentrates less on helping its customers cope with new climate-related legislation than on helping them advertise themselves to the public as climatically responsible.

Planting tress is no substitute for using renewable energy. The answer, if you want to plant trees is to plant your own , in a window box, a back yard, or your best friend’s garden. You do NOT need others to do it for you. Future Forests appears to be planting less trees than it promises and takes a large cut from payments made by individuals who can scarcely afford the sky high prices they charge.

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