nufsaid

May 2010 - Posts

• Lifting the lid on flipping great beef

  So it turns out that if this journalism malarkey all goes wrong, I can’t make good on my claim that I’d go and work in McDonald’s. I visited the Weymouth branch of the fast-food chain today as part of a trip organised by McDonald’s... Posted May 28 2010, 11:22 PM by NufSaid Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, Food, cattle, burgers, McDonalds, Blade Farming, Olympics, Weymouth, Richard Phelps, London 2012, free range, big mac, beef [Edit Tags]

• Being Wurzelised

  I have to admit, I was a little sad this week when U2 pulled out of Glastonbury cos Bono’s back’s giving him gyp. Like Jet, Bono, Th’Edge and the gang are a guilty musical pleasure of mine, and I was disappointed I wouldn’t get... Posted May 27 2010, 05:50 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, farming, Celebrities, Glastonbury, Music, festival, Wurzels, U2, ag, Bono [Edit Tags]

• Fishy way for the media to make dosh

  Gob of the Wash is in London at the moment for the Chelsea Flower Show, so we’ve been going out to play in the evenings to take advantage of his escape from Lincolnshire. We both have a fairly silly sense of humour, so last night we went to Leicester... Posted May 25 2010, 04:38 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, New Media, Communication, London, farming, Celebrities, internet, chelsea flower show, leivcester square, richard herring, matthew naylor, the times, paywalls, sunday times [Edit Tags]

• Fighting fire with fire – how farming won’t win friends

  I had several failed attempts at starting a blog before I really got my teeth into writing this one (and I probably only stuck with this because I paid for the domain name and, being northern, I hate seeing money go to waste). It’s not that I lost... Posted May 19 2010, 08:48 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Soil Association, Organic, New Media, Communication, farming, United States, farm, Food, PETA, Richard Keller, Nottingham Forest, Ag Professional, news [Edit Tags]

• Trouble already in DEFRA’s paradise…

  Oh dear, things aren’t looking so good for DEFRA secretary Caroline Spelman – and she hasn’t even been in the job a week. There were rumblings of discontent at the weekend over possible conflicts of interest between Cazza’s new... Posted May 18 2010, 11:36 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, farming, Politics, Food, Government, RPA, Rural Payments Agency, DEFRA, Caroline Spelman, Accenture [Edit Tags]

• Sparkling stories

  Whenever we’re sent an abysmally-written story or press release at FW Towers, Mr News Editor and I jokingly say we’re going to bin it because there’s “no way you can glitter a pile of manure”. Apparently we’re wrong... Posted May 16 2010, 05:04 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, London, Weird, Whipsnade, Chris Ofili, NVZ, cattle, Tate Britain, manure, Tate, slurry, elephant [Edit Tags]

• Take your time, it’s only a deadline…

  It’s taken long enough, but we’ve finally got ourselves a new DEFRA secretary. Caroline Spelman was announced as the department’s head honcho at about 7pm last night. If I were paranoid, I’d say the politicians were timing their... Posted May 13 2010, 06:40 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, farming, Politics [Edit Tags]

• How do badgers fair in a coalition?

  Who’da thunk we’d manage to drag the election out this long, eh? Even as someone who loves politics, I’m starting to feel a bit fatigued by the uncertainty of it all. Other political nuts are obviously getting over-tired and grizzly about the whole thing... Posted May 11 2010, 04:04 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Politics, badger cull, badgers, Government, labour, general election, Lib Dems, election, voting, coalition [Edit Tags]

• Never steal a journalist’s sarnie…

  There are times when the person you’re interviewing frustrates you so much you find yourself giving them a death-stare in the hope that it’ll scare them into answering your questions. There are times when you put the phone down and use a few... Posted May 11 2010, 11:42 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Politics, Government, general election, election, Television, interview, Alistair Campbell, sky, Adam Boulton, sky news [Edit Tags]

• Real interest in Real Food

  I’ve got the feeling my stomach’s currently trying to work out exactly why I’ve fed it (in chronological order) olive tapenade, strawberry fudge, sausage in onion marmalade, honey yoghurt, salted chocolate and a venison pasty today.... Posted May 09 2010, 09:46 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, London, farming, Nuffield, farm, Food, sheep shearing, mutton, sheep, Real Food Festival, Elan Valley [Edit Tags]

• Tired grump

  Usually when I come into the office having had three hours sleep and feeling like I’ve been thwacked around the head with a sledgehammer, there’s been beer and loud music involved the night before. Having looked forward to the election for... Posted May 07 2010, 06:14 PM by NufSaid Filed under: London, Politics, general election, election, london eye [Edit Tags]

• Just call me Miss Eccentricity

  So Gordon Brown’s the ‘worst Prime Minister ever’, according to Manish Sood, a prospective Labour MP from Norwich. If Mr Sood hadn’t realised before, he’s now learning that slating your prospective boss like that isn’t... Posted May 04 2010, 10:35 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers, Agriculture, Twitter, New Media, BBC, Communication, London, farming, Politics, farm, Government, general election, election, Sood, prime minister, Evening Standard, vote, Manish Sood, Norwich, Paul Waugh, gordon Brown [Edit Tags]

• Independent travel

  I booked tickets to fly to Chicago and Toronto today for the first leg of my Nuffield study tour. To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’m now having to confirm the meetings I’ve been tentatively organising over the past few weeks... Posted May 02 2010, 09:44 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, New Media, Communication, farming, media, Nuffield, Travel, Nuffield Scholarship, Illinois, communications, Chicago [Edit Tags]

• Springy

  I’m trying to save up money for my Nuffield scholarship travels, so to prevent myself being tempted to go out in London this weekend I came up to Nottingham to visit my parents (I’m being so tight, I even travelled here by coach. The least... Posted May 02 2010, 04:34 PM by NufSaid Filed under: dancing cows, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Countryside, Miss Pickering, spring [Edit Tags]

• Say it like you mean it

  The Rural Payments Agency has been featuring more than usual in the pages of Farmers Weekly over the last few weeks thanks, once again, to its disastrous handling of the single farm payment (farm subsidies, for those outside the EU) and mapping updates... Posted May 01 2010, 12:15 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers, Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, Communication, farming, Government, RPA, sunsidy, single payment, mapping [Edit Tags]