Today's Access Asia's Weekly Update has a time line of the Sanlu tainted milk scandal in China, which comes to several conclusions over the lack of interest in New Zealand company Fonterra's 43% investment in the doomed milk producer: i) "the international media, like many elements in the Chinese government, have no interest in stirring up the issue that would raise the culpability of western businesspeople in criminal activities in China"; and ii) "the western media can’t be bothered with the issue, and don’t consider it important". What Fonterra knew when is yet to answered, but there are allegations that it knew up to 12 months before the story broke in China, by which time there had been reported deaths and thousands of children sickened.

When was the last time you purchased a piece of clothing that you could trace back to the sheep farm on which the wool was produced? New Zealand's Icebreaker (which makes outdoor apparel products using merino wool) lets consumers type in a baacode number that shows them where the wool came from (including a video of the sheep station of origin in New Zealand's high country - a place I cycled around many years ago and is surely one of the world's most beautiful locations) and other parts of the entire supply chain. See the baacode function here; if you haven't got an Icebreaker garment, then they will randomly generate a baacode for you to see how the system works (well worth a visit if only to see Branch Creek Station on video). You can see a video here of Icebreaker's ethical stance in the entire supply chain. This is a such a great initiative and I hope lots of people in the industry take a long look at it.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has stated British restaurants should be fined if they serve fruit and vegetables not in season. He has spoken to Prime Minister Gordon Brown about outlawing out-of-season produce, arguing it would cut carbon emissions and lead to improved standards of cooking. Apart from being a hypocrite (his own restaurants "serve food from thousands of miles away"), Ramsay is also uninformed. Perhaps he should read this 2006 article [opens as pdf] from Lincoln University in New Zealand, which concluded (among other things) that the "UK uses twice as much energy per tonne of milk solids produced than NZ, even including the energy associated with transport from NZ to the UK". It would make sense, then, to air freight milk solids from NZ on the basis of food miles. Accompanying pic shows Ramsay in the British-made kitchen used as the set of his cooking show. Not. Looks like a case of if you can't make sense, stay in the kitchen... Via Tim Blair.