Peak oil, peak livestock and probiotic patents

It’s approaching winter in the northern hemisphere and ‘Brexmas’ in the UK. The nights are drawing in, the days are colder, the ground littered with autumn leaves, and for those of us in the UK, a pervading sense of a roller coaster careening a little too close to the edge of the track. It’s election day in 14 days, the first December election since 1923. In the rush to the polling booth, will enough Brexit-weary members of the public find time to give it due cause and attention amidst the nativity plays and festive preparation?

Everywhere we look at the moment, there is either a need to make change or you see people struggling with uncertainty brought about by changes that have already been made. Then there are those that see an opportunity to capitalise on such moments in time, which is the subject of our lead story this week. Is the demonisation of the livestock industry really a response to a planet in crisis or is information being manipulated and misrepresented to take advantage of well-meaning citizens’ desire to take responsible action? We leave you to read Rob Verkerk’s article and ponder on ‘peak livestock’.

Our second piece looks at what the 600 new patent registrations by Big Food and Pharma companies for probiotic products may mean for quality probiotics. It’s a booming industry that may well be at risk as the big corporates jump on the bandwagon. Even more reason to get serious about your microbial health naturally.

In the news this week is the UK nursery that’s taken a unilateral decision to go vegan without consulting parents about the their wishes or the nutritional impacts to developing children, the highly susceptible teens in the US that are being targeted on social media by ads for junk foods, the uniting of 5 major US nutrition organisations under the single banner of the American Nutrition Association and a potential method to make palm oil sustainable, plus more…

In health, naturally