Globalization and the Changing Networks of Food Supply: The Importation of Fresh Horticultural Produce from Kenya into the UK

Set within the context of the global food supply system, this paper examines the growing trade in fresh horticultural produce between Kenya and the UK. The links between UK retailers and Kenyan producers are investigated using the concept of the marketing chain. Two major chains are identified - wholesale and supermarket – and, whilst having no direct investment in Kenya, it is the supermarkets who control production there, through intermediaries who ensure that standards of quality and presentation are met. Importers play a crucial role in facilitating this trade, acting as a vital link between farmers and exporters in Kenya and supermarkets in the UK. The need for quality and traceability dictates that contractual arrangements are made predominantly with large-scale farms using productivist farming methods. The irony is that it is post-productivist demands by 'new consumers' in the UK that are encouraging these productivist horticultural systems in Kenya.     

DISH and the monastic way of life

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is common condition and its prevalence increases markedly with age. This paper describes the pathology and aetiology of the condition; DISH seems to be related to obesity and type II diabetes and is probably a multisystem hormonal disorder. DISH occurs frequently in human skeletal remains, particularly in those recovered from monastic sites. Evidence is presented to confirm this association and the causes are discussed. We also present criteria for the diagnosis of DISH in human remains, which we suggest would permit valid inter‐study comparisons. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An unusual cluster of meningiomas?

Three cases of meningioma are described from a single site in Hertfordshire yielding a total of 83 male and 84 female burials. The lesions were present in the parietal and frontal bones, and were bilateral in one case. All presented as a defect in the inner table of the skull and were supplied by a large aberrant artery; in two instances the lesion had eroded completely through the skull but no hyperostosis was present. The unusually high prevalence of this tumour is discussed in the light of other palaeopathological findings. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronicle for 1999

Abstract

Two German maps of southern Africa, one official, the other private, came to the attention of the British government in the 1890s and raised questions of boundary delineation. In both instances, they provoked a response—diplomatic dispute and internal policy decision—but in neither case did the maps do more. They actively initiated contention but were passive devices thereafter.