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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 13 May 2022
kilkennyobserver.ie
News Opinion
The Fact Of The Matter PAUL HOPKINS
Our wastefulness gives us food for thought Hands up those who remember real fried bread? Not the limp, half-hearted specimen that shuffles unashamedly these days around the plate of a Full Irish but the genuine article fried in the fat left over from the Sunday roast. In those days real men (and women) knew their fried bread and that it would put hairs on their chests (well, perhaps not the women). In those days too, there was little, if any, wasted food in the house of my upbringing. Even that left-over Sunday roast would taste better the next day, chicken bones made for great soup, and you’d never be a sandwich or two short of the picnic as long as you had a scrap or two in the larder. Soured milk was a delicacy and good for you. What little we had we valued and nowt went to waste. Research just released from
NUI Galway and Teagasc (the agriculture and food authority) says around a third of food that comes into Irish homes is being binned. The news comes as cost-ofliving pressures are making it more difficult for a growing number of families to eat healthily. Fruit and vegetables were the most likely to be wasted, according to the study which divided those polled into three groups. The first group, called ‘All Waste’, were people who wasted food in every way by cooking too much and throwing away leftovers. They also disposed of food before it was even cooked and tended to buy and serve more food than needed. The second group, ‘Staple waste’, were more watchful but still ended up more likely to waste fruit, vegetables and bread. The final group, ‘Overcooks’, were the least wasteful
— cooking too much food but rarely throwing it away. The researchers point out that the UN Environmental Food Waste Report estimates that, globally, between 8% and 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste alone. We in this neck of the woods live in a world where we are inundated with a mass of food choices everywhere we go, from Michelin-starred restaurants to fast-food outlets, to the questionable gourmet TV dinners for two, common at your local supermarket, bottle of wine thrown in for good measure. And we occupy a world where increasingly our children become obese and lethargic as they wolf down fast-food after junk-food like they were never going to be fed again in their little fat lives. The Dating Game, a study by Emily Broad-Leib, director of the Harvard Food Policy
Clinic, finds that inconsistent and confusing food-dating is leading to gross wastage and that change is urgently needed. Trying to decide whether that pint of milk left in the back of the fridge is any good? You’ll probably want to check the date. Unfortunately, it probably says ‘sellby,’ which is not exactly informative. ‘Sell-by’ date hasn’t gone by? You might pour a glass and still have it come out all lumpy. ‘Sell-by’ date went by a few weeks ago? You still might toss some perfectly good milk down the sink. The Harvard study says we tend to fixate on misleading dates, assuming that anything past the date has gone bad — which is not necessarily the case. According to Safefood, the all-Ireland body, food waste can be reduced by putting food away as soon as you get home. Check use-by dates to
see what should be used first and items such as chicken breasts bought in bulk should be stored in the freezer. In another report, the UN says one billion people go to bed every night hungry. Not peckish nor snack-happy but tummy-aching hungry.
‘Fried in the fat from the Sunday roast...
That UN report also backs up the Irish research, saying that every year a third of all food for human consumption, around 1.3bn tonnes, is wasted, along with the energy, water and chemicals needed to produce it and dispose of it. The UN says Europe and the US have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations. And here’s another stat from that report: an estimated 20 to 40% of fruit and vegetables are thrown away before they ever reach the shops — mostly because they do not match Tesco’s and Aldi’s and Dunnes’ “excessively strict cosmetic standards”. The report says the one billion people in the world who are starving could be lifted out of malnourishment on less that a quarter of that wasted food. A damning indictment.
Alcoholism – fighting fire with fire ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST
Alcoholism leaves a trail of destruction wherever it appears. It devastates the health and wellbeing of sufferers and tears apart their relationships. Furthermore, it is inherently sneaky, frequently making its presence known to all but the person struggling with it. It has a close cousin, problem drinking. There is debate whether people who regularly consume too much alcohol are, in reality, suffering with alcoholism. Given the negative portrayal of the alcoholic in society, it’s probably an unhelpful label. The truth is, if your drinking is causing you difficulties, you have a problem which needs addressing. There are many ways of tackling alcoholism and problem drinking, the most famous being Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). SMART Recovery is also a good option, as is counselling. Doctors can prescribe helpful medications too. Your GP should always be your first port-of-call. All of these options have
a track record of success. However, like with everything, any potential solution will work for some people and not for others. Simply because somebody may have tried AA or a medication and not succeeded, doesn’t mean they are doomed to a life destroyed by alcohol. It may simply mean they need an alternative to help them beat the drink. Another route is known as The Sinclair Method. It sounds counterintuitive so bear with me. You take a tablet, either nalmefene or naltrexone, wait an hour and then drink. Sounds crazy, right? The reason it works, and there are several studies proving its strong efficacy, is the tablet blocks the pleasure receptors in the brain. Instead of the euphoric rush somebody struggling with alcohol gets when they drink, this doesn’t happen. Over time your subconscious mind unlearns the connection between alcohol, and the ‘buzz’ it brings. This leads to you wanting to drink less and less. The TEDx talk by actress Claudia Christian ‘Ctrl-AltDel’, available on YouTube, discusses this life-changing treatment option in more detail.
Nalmefene is approved by the HSE. The difficulty is in getting a prescription. Many doctors are unaware of The Sinclair Method, or they are put off by its seemingly counterintuitive nature. Sinclair Method UK, in conjunction with Merron Medical and other private GPs in England, together with McKay Pharmacy, which has stores in Belfast, Newtownards and Templepatrick, have teamed together to offer a solution. With Sinclair Method UK’s support, people in Ireland can access up to a sixmonth prescription from Merron Medical, which they can then collect in person at any of the McKay Pharmacy branches. All of these organisations are approved by and fully registered with the UK government so there are no worries on that score. Of course, there are people for whom The Sinclair Method isn’t a good option. That’s why going through a fully qualified medical practitioner such as Merron Medical is so important. However, when this treatment path has such a great success rate, some studies show an 80% efficacy, it should at least be explored as an option.
