Global Village News and Resources Issue 98 - May, 2005

Photo: Jamie Oliver

In The News…

Jamie's School Dinners

Jamie Oliver's latest TV series Jamie's School Dinners has taken the issue of children's food from the school dining room to the corridors of power ­ via our sitting rooms! In his latest mission, Jamie encountered complex problems from changing children's preferences to training dinner ladies taking every ounce of passion and drive he could muster.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/1.htm

Photo: The Royal Horticultural Society

Let Nature Be Your Teacher

Maggi Brown has been managing the schools' project at the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) since it started. In January 2000, after much planning and discussion, the Schools' Organic Network was set up. Its remit was to encourage and support schools to set up gardens in their grounds where pupils could take part in practical gardening schemes.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/2.htm

Food Supplements Directive Deemed Invalid

There was tremendous news in April for the millions of people in Europe who choose to use food supplements. Following a landmark challenge in the European Courts of Justice (ECJ) brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and Nutri-Link Ltd to the contentious Food Supplements Directive, which effectively proposed to ban 75% of vitamin and minerals.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/3.htm

ViewPoint
Organic Agriculture...The Primary Health Service
By Lorna Howarth

Photo: The Soil Association

Eve Balfour, Founder of the Soil Association in 1946, made a visionary statement when she said, "Organic agriculture should become the primary health service".

Agriculture should be central to health ­ as important as the National Health Service in supporting public health ­ but beyond that it is intrinsic to the health of Gaia herself. The Soil Association founders saw the connection in the way we tend the soil and the health of plants, animals, people and the environment. They saw that the love and respect lavished on organic food systems somehow affects the health of that system positively. Organic farmers know that generations of livestock adapt to the indigenous ecology of the farm and are healthier. The bugs in their gut and the bugs in the soil form a dynamic and robust synergy which is lacking on intensive farms.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/4.htm

Gardening with Children

A new book written by singer and TV gardener Kim Wilde is an ideal investment for the school holidays. It is packed with all sorts of imaginative projects for getting young people into the garden.

Right From the Start

Our experiences in the first five years of life shape our psyche, help form the foundations of our character, mould our beliefs and can impact on the relationships we form and decisions we make much later in life.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/5.htm

Positive Youth News

• Young Leaders Working for Solutions: International is launching a new venture in helping to address sustainable development issues through its Young Leaders Project 2005. The project will enable young people to spend three months in Brazil, India, Indonesia or Mexico on solutions-based work placements. LEAD are expecting to attract young people from all parts of the world with an interest in sustainable development and learning about new cultures. Read more... 

• Newz Crewz Changing Lives: An innovative online program is being run by and for the youth acting as a discussion for young people from all around the world. Newz Crew, using an online discussion technique means young people can be introduced to others who also care about what's happening in the world around them. Using the Internet and news media, the project is developing and promoting media literacy and youth engagement in the democratic process.   Read more...

• Creating a Compassionate Future: The 6th International Soul in Education Conference will be held in Boulder, Colorado, America this summer involving world-renowned speakers, interactive workshops, panels, discussions, multi-cultural presentations and performances. From Jun 16th to 20th parents, the community and educators in all levels and settings will be brought together in co-creating new educational models of collaboration, caring and connection. Read more...

• City Kids in New York are Using Their Voices for Positive Change:  The City Kids Foundation in New York are running programmes that are helping young people ages 13-19 to use their voices for positive change. Young people involved with City Kids are writing and performing their own positive message music, dance, and dramatic material. As well as getting their voices heard though interactive workshops, grassroots community programs, TV appearances, videotapes, books and more.  Read more..

• Educating the World:  An exciting international education project, 'One World, One Environment.' Is being launched to get young people thinking about sustainability both on a local and global scale, via the medium of the internet. The project will be run by iEARN U (International Education and Research Network), a not-for-profit network made up of over 20,000 schools in more than 109 countries. Read more...

• Envolve:  Envolve is a charity (formerly Bath Environment Centre) working in the South West of England to encourage more sustainable lifestyles, often in partnership with others.  Read more... 

• Young Innovation: Young Innovation, Envolve's new education-business initiative, is entering its second stage after more than 1,700 secondary students took part in a series of innovative workshops about sustainability and sustainable business. Read more...

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/6.htm

Tree Aid is an organisation that seeks to eliminate the effects drought and poverty in the dry lands of Africa not only by the planting of trees but also through education and the provision of equipment. Since 1987 tree aid has raised over three million pounds funding 76 projects across Africa, benefiting more then 180,000 people. This is greatly needed in areas that are incapable of growing crops that are trapped in the cycle of drought and soil erosion that makes the land infertile.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/7.htm

Bustan L'Shalom

Bustan is a partnership of Jewish and Arab eco-builders, architects, academics and farmers promoting social and environmental justice in Israel/Palestine. Bustan cultivates sustainable models to bring about change by combining advocacy and in-depth political analysis with strategic action. Bustan utilizes the principles of permaculture and non-violent direct action across ethnic divides.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/8.htm 

You may have noticed that Global Village News is now including a regular section on Positive Youth News.

Both GVNR and the Positive News International Network has become more and more aware of young people who want to have a say in their future. They have fresh hopeful ideas, they have the enthusiasm and energy to make them a reality. They have opinions on peaceful living on an international level they have views on sustaining the resources of the planet. Here is the hope for journalism in the future many young people today would like to report on wider options, people who are making a constructive difference in their world.

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http://www.gvnr.com/98/editorial.htm

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