Interesting report from the University Alliance on future labour trends….

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

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…can be found here: http://www.unialliance.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-way-well-work-final-for-web.pdf

And questioning whether there are too many graduates here: With further details here: http://www.unialliance.ac.uk/site/2012/04/03/do-we-really-have-too-many-graduates/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UniversityAlliance+%28University+Alliance%29

Finding sustainable food… does the SRA provide an answer?

22 Monday Mar 2010

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I’ve been watching the debate on the Sustainable Restaurant Association with quite some interest. My first reaction was (as a consumer) to be delighted. Living outside London (God forbid I know), I have found it very tricky to get to restaurants with any kind of information on sustainability, making the idea of some kind of accreditation system all the more exciting. You pay so much for meals in restaurants that frankly I demand more sustainable food, why would I want to go out and eat a meal more unsustainable that I would I home?
This is why I choose to eat out at places where I can chat to the staff about food sourcing and who demonstrate on the menu where their food comes from. Not living in London (instead, on the South Coast) this means a brilliant local selection… thoughts of Poole plaice, Blue Vinney cheese and Ringwood brewery ales are enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
However, my restaurant choice is often dictated by someone else, with large chains being the choice of venue for endless group birthday do’s, hen do’s and other ‘do’s’. Giles Coren has written about the quality of a famous chain recently, (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/eating_out/giles_coren/article7062327.ece), but they are a feature of British gastronomy and brought the pleasures of eating out to the millions.
So, I have to take my hats off to the SRA for trying to do something. Henry Dimbleby’s piece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/mar/22/sustainable-restaurant-association-henry-dimbleby) is persuasive, particularly in comparison to Jay Rayner’s earlier scepticism in the same publication. What I like about the SRA is its demands continuous change. So in some respect, the SRA standard is a bit like the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is one of the most rigorous environmental performance management tools for all types of organisation. I am currently reading up on some of the social theory behind everyday practice which I offer will add some more insight, but what I do know is that humans very often hate change. So to develop a standard which insists on it, will help with this process. Rayner’s views do need to be noted however, there is far too much tokenistic greening going on; continuing on-going critique (through research) is a crucial part of ensuring quality. And in food, you really want quality.
There is, perhaps, a more fundamental issue that has received less attention. How do you get people to care about how sustainable their food is? There is, of course, a considerable well off (often Guardian reading clique – whom I am very much part of) that choose where to eat on the basis of certain ethical criteria. But the vast majority don’t really give a stuff, as I sense from my wide range of friends and their assorted do’s. Or they have other criteria which is far more important to them; dietary implications, fashion, special offers, locations… the list is endless and they all roll their eyes at me if I bring the elephant into the room of sustainability.
So, please do advise me, how can we make eating sustainably a practice that we all want to engage in?