A wildlife disaster unfolds alongside the human tragedy in the Strait of Hormuz
@greenpeace.org reports Iranian vessel Shahid Bagheri, stuck by a US warplane in early March, is still leaking oil near the Strait, with nearby wetlands at risk:
www.cnn.com/2026/04/17/s...
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there's a quote in this piece where the headmaster argues that the kitchen *has* to make money and rails against the 'nanny state'
not necessarily blaming individual institutions or people, but this doesn't seem a great situation
the issue seems to be that contracting private companies creates a profit motive, and profits are highest for (ultra)processed and unhealthy foods
I get that schools face financial pressure, but they also have a responsibility to create an enabling and healthy environment for children
for anyone in or near Edinburgh, we have an upcoming SKAPE event on 21 April with @gabrielsilesb.bsky.social presenting his research on health policies in the WTO - link to register below
@skape-ed.bsky.social
back on the plastics archive research and the first hit is a 1977 Washington Post article on Coca-Cola funding a shrimp farm that claimed to have bypassed the need for fresh water
both really weird and an example of how alert corporations were to environmental concerns like water stewardship
niche complaint, but it's incredibly irritating that some video editor has put a wilhelm scream in the UEFA 'football for all' campaign, and also that nobody has bothered to fix it
[yes the arsenal game is pretty tedious, why do you ask]
after taking this picture I had to google ‘is there a difference between cats bathing in the sun and sunbathing’
see: 'The Commodities Fetish? Financialisation and Finance Capital in the US Oil Industry'
doi.org/10.1163/1569...
an interesting example of what Adam Hanieh argues (contra much of the financialisation literature) is the inextricable relationship between oil futures markets and the physical production and delivery of oil
as @dlevialvares.bsky.social and @tris-sia.bsky.social point out in this report, plastics continue to a blindspot in coverage of the current conflict
a plausible scenario is that demand destruction for oil + gas in energy systems leads to even more aggressive expansion into petrochemicals
we argue that plastics are integral to ultra-processed foods as a globalized product - while this might seem obvious, it is one that is rarely made in either the environmental politics or food systems literature
new comment by myself, @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social @katesievert.bsky.social @kimanastasiou.bsky.social and Joe Yates in @natfood.nature.com on ultra-processed foods and the global plastics pollution crisis
I’ve learned a lot from your work! Hanieh’s ‘petrochemical empire’ article is brilliant - one of the best historical accounts I’ve read on petrochemicals
At some point you stop writing for readers and start writing for the imaginary objections of Reviewer 2
glad you enjoyed it! I have a comment about to be published in Nature Food on ultra-processed foods and plastics - can email it to you if you're interested?
new open access paper with colleagues @jacktaggart.bsky.social and @jptilsted.bsky.social in @ripejournal.bsky.social
it offers a neo-gramscian perspective on the political economy of plastics / plastic pollution, exploring attempts by dominant actors to sustain 'plastic hegemony'
Black Medicine Coffee, 1pm
Today looking forward to meeting up with Edinburgh University Greens!
we can only speculate but he’s around 8 so quite possibly
Alby's is actually named after the owners' dachshund which is sweet
sandwiches are amazing there, though they used to do a broccoli side with romesco sauce that was so good
new report from @ciel.org on how private finance is fuelling petrochemical production
no surprise that the Big Three asset managers (Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street) are the largest investors in the global petrochemical industry
but as you say, could be an attempt to boost metrics
that’s true, in which case it seems very poor judgement on the part of the editors
it is unfathomable to me that an article this made it through a double-blind peer review process
the opening sentence alone would surely raise huge red flags for any half-decent reviewer
Braskem have already increased plastic resin prices, so I reckon a matter of time before others manufacturers do so.
this has gone under the radar, but this crisis has also caused a global spike in the cost of plastic, which seems almost certain to increase the cost of food
similar to energy we need to defossilize food systems, reducing dependence on single-use plastics, shifting to more sustainable reuse models
As an IR professor, it's depressing that this is outperforming all others as the best theory of US foreign policy
This is a far bigger fuel, fertilizer, food crisis for Asia and Europe than it is for the US.
US dependence on Persian Gulf oil has almost never been lower
A thread by @sstapczynski.bsky.social on how Asia is alreaddy within days facing a destabilizing.
x.com/SStapczynski...
The war in Iran could trigger a global food shock
• More than 1.1mn tonnes of fertiliser and fertiliser inputs is currently stuck in the Gulf
• Shortages are starting during northern hemisphere’s planting season, raising the risk of lower harvests for staples like rice
www.ft.com/content/1054...