There’s no better way to publicise a government initiative than a spurious survey, and we have taken the bait to report the news that a third of 16 to 24-year-olds admit to passing off a ready meal as their own creation when they wanted to impress someone. The Department of Health survey, which promotes the “5-a-day” programme to get people to eat more fruit and vegetables, also reveals that one person in ten never cooks. Fortunately, for these non-Delias, there is a new DoH leaflet to educate them. Assuming they don’t just eat it.
The British Tommy never had trouble rustling up grub in trying times, and the modern soldier is not only talented but generous when it comes to food. The men of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards serving in southern Iraq have donated a third of their week’s food to local people in recognition of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. “As Scots, we have an affinity with the inhabitants of Maysaan Province who are another proudly independent people,” a spokesman said. “We have lots of things in common including a passion for football.”
The Grand Canyon, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, Bromley . . . Implausible though it may sound, the South London borough could soon have the same protection from Unesco as some of the world’s wonders. The Government has named almost 1,000 hectares of land surrounding a house that was owned by Charles Darwin as the UK’s nomination to become a World Heritage Site. Darwin conducted his investigations into evolution in the area for 40 years after his Beagle voyage.
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Dr Helen Phillips, the director for Environment Agency Wales, has been appointed on a three-year contract as the first chief executive of Natural England, the statutory body with responsibility for conserving, enhancing and managing the natural environment, formed out of English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service.