What on Earth's going on with our weather?

I haven't written very much about the weather here in the UK. I haven't really needed to. It is always in the news and in the press. We often have bad weather here in the UK. It often rains and it is often windy - it is Winter after all. But I can't be alone in thinking that the last few months have been pretty extreme. Late last year, we saw flooding on the East Coast of England. There was significant damage to coastal defences and much of the damage remains, awaiting repair and will remain so due to lack of funds.

The combination of heavy rain, high tides and strong winds has resulted in significant flooding across large parts of the UK especially in Somerset and with further rain forecast, there is little hope of the area returning to 'normal'. There is huge criticism aimed at the government for having done too little too late and many blame the Environment Agency for the state of the rivers and lack of dredging that has contributed to the flooding

Today we have seen yet another severe storm which has caused damage to sea defences along the south and west coast. The train line from Paddington to Penzance has been damaged at Dawlish in Devon where the sea wall and track bed has been washed away by powerful waves. I know this stretch of line very well. I've even modelled it and consider it to be one of the most picturesque stretches of railway in the UK.

We've had severe weather before. We've had large waves before, but this time it is different. Never before has this much damage been caused. The bill for repairing the line will be enormous and it will be closed for weeks and possibly months to come. It will need a lot of money and a lot of engineering expertise to repair the line and to make the whole coastal stretch safe for trains once more.
As I write this, I hear that residents in Somerset are being evacuated due to rising flood water. There are currently 8 severe flood warnings and thousands are without power.
I hear so many who maintain that the weather is 'normal' for this time of year, but I'm afraid I can't agree. You really don't need to be an expert to see that weather like this, so damaging and so prolonged, isn't normal. I daresay that in six months from now, we'll be complaining that it's too hot and that we're heading for drought...

An Uncomfortable Truth

In the news at the moment is the Great British Meat Scandal, as I choose to call it. In a month or two I suspect it will have been overtaken by something else but at the moment, it has us all thinking about the food we eat, how it is made and where it comes from. The 'uncomfortable truth' for many is that for the most part, none of us really know where our food comes from, particularly processed meat. One thing that is clear is that very little of it originates here in the UK, most of it coming from Eastern Europe. I try to avoid processed meat as much as I can and I'm a naturally fussy eater anyway, inspecting most things before deciding to put them in me. If I have eaten horse meat, then I suspect like many I wouldn't have known or tasted any difference. I have no doubt that the procedures for checking what goes into our food will be tightened, but even then, how can we be sure of what we're being given to eat? I do believe that cost has a lot to do with it, though I don't believe the consumer is to blame for the cheapness and lowering of quality in the food we eat. The supermarkets are in ferocious competition with each other to sell us ever cheaper food. The economy has shrunk household budgets to such an extent that many have no choice but the buy the 'value' brands. Lower quality ingredients should be expected, but to substitute the main ingredient, i.e. beef for something entirely different is simply wrong.
This whole sorry saga will have a significant impact on the way we shop for food. Already, there is a decline in the sale of ready meals with many shoppers opting for alternative meats such as chicken and pork. A shake up of the whole industry is needed and I think that is what we will see over the coming weeks. This will inevitably come at a cost as greater emphasis is given by food producers and retailers to the processes involved in getting meat from the farms to our plates. If this means an increase in the cost of meat, then so be it. Perhaps that has been needed for some time. Perhaps it is cost that has driven quality and standards so low that even basic ingredients can no longer be guaranteed, or the origins of these ingredients truly known.
This has to be a wake up call for the whole industry. Consumers should expect a minimum standard of quality and assurance. I want to know what I am eating and where it is from. Don't you?