Big Barn is getting bigger and and we’re looking for voices to shout up for local food. And so is the Jonathan Dimbleby Programme this Sunday

We are putting together a series of regional consumer panels to gather information to help publicise the case for local food and to help farmers produce the food their customers want to eat. All you’ll have to do is fill in a confidential online questionnaire once every three months.

We will also make other offers such as joining Jonathan Dimbleby’s audience this Sunday and have your say relating to Healthy Living, this weeks topic.

Regular contributors to our forum will automatically become members of our Privilege Club, receiving early results of panel findings, exclusive offers and free entry into our prize draw for a hamper of good local food.

How can you resist?

If you’d like to to join your local panel and make your voice heard please complete the form in the ‘Local Forum’ menu option, on the left of your screen. Or email me if you have any queries.

If you would like to be in Jonathan Dimbleby’s audience I will email you once you have registered.

Thanks and together we can make a difference!

Food Standars Agency 09 November 2003

The Food Standards Agency has published a discussion paper on possible options for action on the promotion of foods that could improve children’s diets and health.

The options include research, building on existing guidance, best practice, and new regulation. These measures could cover sponsorship, advertising, labelling, endorsements, in-store activity and loyalty schemes.
The Board of the Agency will decide next year, following public debate, which policy options it wishes to recommend to Government.

The publication of the discussion paper coincides with the launch of a designated website www.food.gov.uk/promote outlining the options, facts and figures and inviting comments, as well as background information.

In September 2003, the Agency published a comprehensive, peer-reviewed, independent research project Does food promotion influence children?: A systematic review of the evidence, carried out by Professor Gerard Hastings.

His review concluded that advertising to children does have an effect on children’s food preferences, purchase behaviour and consumption, and that these effects occur not just at brand level, but also for different types of foods.

Sir John Krebs, Chair of the Food Standards Agency said: ‘We already know that many children’s diets contain more fat, sugar and salt than is recommended. We know that the level of obesity in children is rising and, in the words of the Chief Medical Officer, is a health time bomb that could explode.

‘By 2010 it could cost 2433.6 billion a year and be a very significant factor in the ill health of thousands of people and their families. This is why the Agency is encouraging a wide debate on the options for action that could make a difference. Doing nothing is not an option.’

Current figures show that 8.5% of 6 year olds and 15% of 15 years olds are obese according to Health Check, the Chief Medical Officer for England’s Annual Report (2002). The National Audit Office’s report Tackling Obesity (2001) predicts that by 2010 obesity will cost the nation some 2433.6 billion a year in England.

The Agency intends to discuss the options paper at length with consumer groups, retailers, the food and advertising industries and other interested parties. The Agency is also drawing up plans for a public meeting, to be held in London in January 2004. The event is intended to capture the views of a broad spectrum of people, groups and bodies. Full details will be issued at a later date.

The Food Standards Agency Board will consider the outcomes of the public debate and discuss the options available at their open meeting in February, once these activities have been completed.

Recent research shows that herbs are better for us than we thought, even better than fresh fruit and vegetables. As they are so easy to grow and delicious added to most dishes perhaps it is time to set some of the garden or window box with herbs.

I have been a keen herb grower for a long time. As a fourth generation farmer I enjoy growing plants to eat rather than look at and the only flowers in my garden are those produced by herbs or vegetables.

The only herb I have missed and which is the best for us is the oregano family.

The research showed. “In general, oregano had 3 to 20 times higher antioxidant activity than the other herbs studied.

On a per gram fresh weight basis, oregano and other herbs ranked even higher in antioxidant activity than fruits and vegetables, which are known to be high in antioxidants. Oregano has 42 times more antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and four times more than blueberries”.

Wow. I am off to my local nursery and depending on their advice will grow some on the window sill or make space in the herb garden.

For more on this story have a look in our ‘Food Facts’ section

Researchers from the US Department of Agriculture have found that herbs are an abundant source of antioxidants and could provide potential anticancer benefits when supplementing a balanced diet.

The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, showed that herbs have higher antioxidant activity than fruits, vegetables and some spices, including garlic.
“Some herbs should be considered as regular vegetables,” said Shiow Y. Wang, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and a biochemist with the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Md. “People should use more herbs for flavouring instead of salt and artificial chemicals.”

Using various chemical tests, Wang studied and compared the antioxidant activity of 39 commonly used herbs grown in the same location and conditions. The study, which did not involve animal or human subjects, included 27 culinary and 12 medicinal herbs.

The herbs with the highest antioxidant activity belonged to the oregano family, the research showed. In general, oregano had three to 20 times higher antioxidant activity than the other herbs studied.

On a per gram fresh weight basis, oregano and other herbs ranked even higher in antioxidant activity than fruits and vegetables, which are known to be high in antioxidants. Oregano has 42 times more antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and four times more than blueberries, Wang said.

Other herbs were also found to be high in antioxidants, including dill, garden thyme, rosemary and peppermint.

The most active phenol component in some of the herbs with the highest antioxidant activity, particularly oregano, was rosmarinic acid, a strong antioxidant.

Antioxidants are a class of compounds thought to prevent certain types of chemical damage caused by an excess of free radicals, charged molecules that are generated by a variety of sources including pesticides, smoking and exhaust fumes. Destroying free radicals may help fight cancer, heart disease and stroke, researchers believe.

Fruits and vegetables have long been viewed as a rich source of antioxidant compounds. Health officials have been urging consumers for years to eat more fruits and vegetables in order to gain the health benefits of antioxidants, but progress has been slow, according to researchers. Westerners still tend to favour diets that are rich in fats and carbohydrates, they say.

More recently, researchers have begun to formally study the health benefits of herbs and spices. The two differ mainly by source. Herbs typically come from the leaves of plants. Spices come from the bark, stem and seeds of plants. Both have been used for thousands of years to flavour foods and treat illness.

In general, fresh herbs and spices are healthier and contain higher antioxidant levels compared to their processed counterparts, according to Wang. For example, the antioxidant activity of fresh garlic is 1.5 times higher than dry garlic powder.

Just as consuming too much of any food product can carry health risks, herbs should be used with moderation, Wang cautioned. Herbs are no substitute for a balanced diet, she added, and pregnant women in particular should consult their physicians before taking herbal supplements.

Source: American Chemical Society