Preserving Our Planet

Across the globe, farmers are exploited by giant conglomerates making eye-watering amounts of money from food production. But what is the true cost of food that comes from unsustainable sources where deforestation and extinction are caused by consumerism? The rising cost of food – cheaper is more expensive! We all grumble at the rising cost of food in times where austerity is rife and wages are not in line with inflation. Whilst we chunter to ourselves in the supermarket aisles, many of us don’t realise the true price of unsustainable food: a price that costs the environment, costs animals’ lives and costs humans their rights. It is so far removed from our consumer habits we don’t stop to consider what our want of falling food prices really entails. The hidden costs include:  agricultural-driven deforestation extinction perpetuation of gender inequalities exploitation  habitat loss for animals and humans. The sad reality is, our current food production ...

The distinguishing eye markings of the vaquita   The race is on to save the world's smallest cetacean, the vaquita, a unique and beautiful porpoise. Until a couple of months ago, I’d never heard of a vaquita: a beautifully elusive porpoise which is also unknown to Word since it doesn’t recognise its name. For this reason, I am shrugging off the mantle of blame for my ignorance. After all, I live in the UK - vaquitas are endemic to the Gulf of California; I live nowhere near the sea - they live in the Sea of Cortez; Word doesn’t recognise its name – I am a wordsmith, not a nautical expert with a degree in ecology and marine biology. You can’t really be surprised at most of my generation being unaware of vaquitas either – they were only discovered in 1958. Being so rare, it is unfortunately due to the threat of extinction that they have now swum reluctantly into the media light. You only need to look at a picture of a vaquita to see how uniquely beautiful t...