This blog is about family travel around the world without leaving the UK. Impossible? No. This post takes a look at the joys of tasting something I enjoyed aged 18... Big hugs to lost innocence about salty snacks and climate change. Words from Nicola Baird (see www.nicolabaird.com for more info about my books and blogs).
The news about how bad climate change is - and that it absolutely isn't a made-up phenomena - has upset what for me would have been a fundamentally happy, carefreeweekend life... Reading the summaries in the Guardian, and also the New York Times about how much scientists estimate climate change is going to effect our home is horrific. This was September 2013.
Now it's worse - March 2014 - with the IPCC saying climate change is no longer distant. The panel makes it seem more real than seas rising and coral dying by suggesting that my daily cup of coffee is now at risk (as are the jobs created by coffee growing).
And yet we don't seem able to make politicians act with any sense of purpose. There are good reasons for this, see New Scientist here
In 2009 action by the world's leaders at Copenhagen to do something ended up achieving yet more years of inaction. Apparently in 2014 the UN will have another go to do something...
However critical I am of politicians the truth is, that like most people, I am not doing enough to reduce my carbon emissions either. And yes, I did join in 2014 WWF's big switch off - much to the bemusement of my dinner guests who thought I was too chicken to reveal the veggie food I'd cooked under anything other than candle light...
The thing is we've all got to change. And yet we don't... When I first drafted this post over an autumn weekend I had one daughter visiting friends in Hertfordshire (via car), a husband in the Lake District climbing mountains before winter sets in (he travelled from London via train) plus me and my other daughter zooming around London via tube to enjoy what's on offer here. Perhaps that's why my teen and I visited Harvey Nichols, a posh Knightsbridge shop I haven't been into since I was a teenager (and that visit was a one-off!).
I've heard so much about Harvey Nicks over the years (probably read as much about this shop as I have about climate change, which is an extremely disturbing thought).I know it's for the super rich, but I was still knocked out by just how many people were hanging out on the 5th floor in the food hall at 3.30pm on a Sunday (what kind of time is that to eat anyway?). Lola, who is 15, and I are well trained when it comes to window shopping, so we walked around admiring macaroons, sushi and tasty looking paninis until I spotted a snack for sale which I've not eaten for decades - American-made fish shaped crackers.
Fins can only get better. Ha.
If you don't already know these crackers (see pic) I assume it's because you're not familiar with the US, or have i just missed these tasty treats in UK shops? Just for old taste's sake I decided to buy a bag. Fortunately they cost £2.40 which didn't seem too indulgent - but that's what comes of taking escalators up fice floors past hideously expensive fashion and a Jimmy Choo outlet. It stops you double-taking at anything under a tenner.
Four hours later Lola and I were home and decided to open the packet. Apart from being a zillion times saltier than I remember, and the fish now having little smiles (cute?!) everything tasted just the same. I was back in New York in the 1980s - a time when no one seemed to mention climate change (except scientist Maggie Thatcher).
In contrast Lola, who is well aware that the planet is warming and sea levels are rising loathed her first bite....
Soul searching
This little incident proves nothing, but it did lead to a big conversation about what life will be like in 40 years time. And, perhaps more to the point, what skills regular people are going to need to cope with the upsets coming. What's on your list?
The news about how bad climate change is - and that it absolutely isn't a made-up phenomena - has upset what for me would have been a fundamentally happy, carefree
Now it's worse - March 2014 - with the IPCC saying climate change is no longer distant. The panel makes it seem more real than seas rising and coral dying by suggesting that my daily cup of coffee is now at risk (as are the jobs created by coffee growing).
And yet we don't seem able to make politicians act with any sense of purpose. There are good reasons for this, see New Scientist here
In 2009 action by the world's leaders at Copenhagen to do something ended up achieving yet more years of inaction. Apparently in 2014 the UN will have another go to do something...
However critical I am of politicians the truth is, that like most people, I am not doing enough to reduce my carbon emissions either. And yes, I did join in 2014 WWF's big switch off - much to the bemusement of my dinner guests who thought I was too chicken to reveal the veggie food I'd cooked under anything other than candle light...
The thing is we've all got to change. And yet we don't... When I first drafted this post over an autumn weekend I had one daughter visiting friends in Hertfordshire (via car), a husband in the Lake District climbing mountains before winter sets in (he travelled from London via train) plus me and my other daughter zooming around London via tube to enjoy what's on offer here. Perhaps that's why my teen and I visited Harvey Nichols, a posh Knightsbridge shop I haven't been into since I was a teenager (and that visit was a one-off!).
I've heard so much about Harvey Nicks over the years (probably read as much about this shop as I have about climate change, which is an extremely disturbing thought).I know it's for the super rich, but I was still knocked out by just how many people were hanging out on the 5th floor in the food hall at 3.30pm on a Sunday (what kind of time is that to eat anyway?). Lola, who is 15, and I are well trained when it comes to window shopping, so we walked around admiring macaroons, sushi and tasty looking paninis until I spotted a snack for sale which I've not eaten for decades - American-made fish shaped crackers.
Fins can only get better. Ha.
If you don't already know these crackers (see pic) I assume it's because you're not familiar with the US, or have i just missed these tasty treats in UK shops? Just for old taste's sake I decided to buy a bag. Fortunately they cost £2.40 which didn't seem too indulgent - but that's what comes of taking escalators up fice floors past hideously expensive fashion and a Jimmy Choo outlet. It stops you double-taking at anything under a tenner.
Four hours later Lola and I were home and decided to open the packet. Apart from being a zillion times saltier than I remember, and the fish now having little smiles (cute?!) everything tasted just the same. I was back in New York in the 1980s - a time when no one seemed to mention climate change (except scientist Maggie Thatcher).
In contrast Lola, who is well aware that the planet is warming and sea levels are rising loathed her first bite....
Soul searching
This little incident proves nothing, but it did lead to a big conversation about what life will be like in 40 years time. And, perhaps more to the point, what skills regular people are going to need to cope with the upsets coming. What's on your list?
No comments:
Post a Comment