Sorting through the chaff
You would need to be living on a desert island to be unaware of
the ever-increasing international controversy about damage to the
environment. Bombarded with the noise of concern, I have been
thinking more and more about Discovery's responsibility and how we
might sensibly address the issues of waste, emissions and energy
consumption. Initially I took my steer from headline news - and
only later, after some deeper investigation, has it become
abundantly clear that once again scientists cannot agree on what is
happening, what might be causing it, and what the appropriate
responses might be.
I shouldn't be surprised. Working in the food industry I am only
too familiar with the contradictions of what is deemed to be safe
in the US being banned in Europe and vice versa. Genetically
modified corn is one such example, but there are many more
anomalies.
When I started the business 17 years ago, I was determined to
keep our products as free from artificial additives, colourings and
preservatives as good food safety standards would allow. Our view
was that our 'green' values would be reflected well by printing our
labels on recycled paper. The first print run was disastrous - the
ink was totally blotted-up due to the porous paper - resulting in
the labels being scrapped and a less-green solution found. Change
always seems to carry a cost and whatever our ethical response to
green issues is, inevitably that will carry a cost too.
I am conscious that good intentions are not enough. But despite my
conscience telling me we ought to be proactive, I have realised the
journey to discovering the truth is every bit as fickle as our
journey to discover new flavours. I know from experience that just
visiting touristy restaurants doesn't usually help uncover the true
food of a region. You have to get behind that façade and discover
what the nation's chefs and housewives are cooking for themselves.
Clearly, being 'green' will present the same challenge.
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