Month: March 2022

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Western Hypocrisy to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Having moved to Peebles in 2002, ‘Stooriefit’ Bosco Santimano gives us his own take on what he feels is the hot topic of the day. This week it’s the blatant hypocrisy and racism of the western media on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

For the first time since the 9/11 terrorist atrocities committed in America, I have decided to switch off the news due to biased, utterly false, mostly selective and racist reporting from most western news channels about the current war and refugee crisis unfolding in Ukraine. Any sane person with a bit of knowledge about the collapse of the former Soviet Union, will be shocked and appalled by the drums of war beating almost daily through news outlets in the West, especially Britain and America.

So, what really is happening? Why are we demonising Russia and who is benefiting financially from all this pain and suffering that is currently being inflicted on the Ukrainian people? In order to understand this, we need to go back in time when the Berlin wall fell and the Soviet Union (USSR) was broken up into pieces and 15 countries were born including Russia. The west instead of taking the opportunity to be humble in victory, carelessly and arrogantly went about antagonising Russia further by first allowing former Soviet bloc countries to join the European Union and then push for many of the former Eastern bloc countries to join NATO in a strategic alliance in order to surround Russia. In the early 2000’s there was even talk among Western intelligence and politicians to place nuclear missiles in the newly joined NATO states in order to deter any future Russian aggression. Putin who was a former KGB agent saw the demise and humiliation of his country by the west and once in power systematically started rebuilding Russia to its former glory! Since 2007 he has repeatedly warned NATO and its allies to stop their colonial expansionist policies. But because of a weakened economy, the US/UK and its allies kept probing the wounded bear time and time again. In a nutshell, the invasion of Ukraine is the outcome.

During the campaign to garner support for an illegal war in the US, France objected to this interference in a foreign state and what did the US politicians’ resort to because of this defiance; looked to boycott all French goods and even renamed French Fries to Freedom Fries! Anyone that seeks to avoid war and instead focus on diplomacy is ridiculed, called a traitor and an enemy of democracy and freedom. War is never the answer and it seems we have not learned this lesson. NATO should have been dismantled after the collapse of the former Soviet Union but the West’s colonial mindset and arrogance of superiority has led us to where we are with the Russian situation.
It’s not too late to back away and offer support to Ukrainians while holding talks with Putin. All refugees should be welcomed, not just blonde, blue-eyed and white as we are seeing a clear and racist shift towards opening our doors to people based on the colour of their skins and religion. While writing this column I heard on the radio that the UK government has offered £350 per month to anyone willing to take in a Ukrainian refugee. I rest my case.

Published in The Peeblesshire News on Friday 18th March 2022

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What is the Good Food Nation Bill?

This week Bosco Santimano founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on the good food nation bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament last year in a two-part series.

Last Sunday I was invited to be part of the BBC Radio 4 “The Food Programme”. You Can Cook along with Locavore; Edinburgh’s new organic and ethical supermarket. Our organisations were the only two social enterprises that took part in this programme that assess the country’s health and food system, and looked at what opportunities and hurdles lie ahead as the Good Food Nation Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament last year by MSP Mairi Gougeon for Angus North and Mearns and Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands.

So, what is the Good Food Nation Bill? The Bill requires the Scottish Ministers and certain public bodies to create Good Food Nation Plans. The relevant bodies identified in the Bill are health boards and local authorities (or councils). Other public bodies may be required to produce plans in the future. The Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities need to have regard to these plans when carrying out certain functions. These functions will be set out by the Scottish Ministers in secondary legislation that will be considered by the Parliament. The Bill was created to support the ambition of the Scottish Government that Scotland becomes a ‘Good Food Nation’. In 2014, the Scottish Government published a discussion document titled ‘Recipe for Success: Scotland’s National Food and Drink Policy – Becoming a Good Food Nation’ which made a commitment that by 2025, Scotland will be “a Good Food Nation, where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day”.

The Bill encompasses the following key concepts:

1. the people of Scotland taking a keen interest in their food;
2. the people who serve and sell food ensuring that it is good quality food;
3. everyone in Scotland having easy access to the healthy and nutritious food that they need;
4. dietary related diseases declining;
5. the environmental impact of food consumption decreasing; and
6. Scottish producers ensuring that what they produce is increasingly healthy and environmentally sound.

Children in Scotland have responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Good Food Nation Bill, calling for the right to food to be incorporated into Scots law. Some readers may be aware that the ‘right to food’ Scotland bill covers very different aspects of food and was proposed by Labour MSP Rhona Grant and the intention is to incorporate the bill in Scots law. In the final part of my column, I will look at what the Good Food Nation Bill actually does in practice and the importance of linking it with the Right to Food Scotland Bill in order to have a positive and long-term impact on Scotland’s population and environment.

Published in The Peeblesshire News on Friday 4th March 2022