James Playfair-Hannay a livestock farmer, who wrote the piece for the FW, said that his local village of Morebattle in the Scottish borders took one vehicle in September and another two are leaving shortly. One of which will be taken by his wife Debbie who will join the next convoy of 4x4 pickups making their way to Ukraine. As he said, ‘not bad for a parish of just 400 people’.
Generators are high on the list of requirements, along with quads and dirt bikes. Also needed are items such as tyres, first aid kits, chainsaws, and winter clothing. An unusual item is fishing nets, which are used to protect infrastructure from drones. Along with these items £1.8m in direct aid has been donated.
These vehicles which must be roadworthy, have a valid MOT and good tyres, along with the supplies provide real, solid, physical support for Ukraine by saving lives, and give huge mental and moral support. As James says, help is even more important now, given that this conflict has been superseded by the turmoil in the Middle East – Putin has not gone away.
We must remember that they are fighting not just for their own country, but for every one of us. To help if you have a suitable vehicle or equipment, you are willing to donate, visit pickupsforpeace.co.uk or justgiving.com/pickupsforpeace.
It seems we should consider giving up on avocados. The fruit appears to be caught up in Mexican drug gangs which have been profiting from the booming avocado business. Interestingly London based El Pastor chain of Mexican restaurants announced that they were offering ‘cartel free’ avocados, guaranteed to be untainted by crime and mob violence.
Avocados are referred to as ‘green gold’ in Mexico, with farmers being forced to take up arms to defend themselves against drug cartels. They say it is fast becoming a “conflict commodity” much like blood diamonds from Africa.
Columbia has also seen its avocado production skyrocket, so much so that it is now the world’s second largest producer.
Aside from the violence, racketeering, and deforestation across South America, the water required for the plantations, is causing rivers and groundwater stores to be drained faster than they can be replenished.
Blame for the cult of avocado on toast has been directed at Gwyneth Paltrow and Nigella Lawson who both featured toast topped with crushed avocado back in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Perhaps today we should find an alternative to this fruit, preferably one which is home grown thus avoiding air miles, deforestation, water shortages and gang warfare.