Welcome from the editor: alternatives
Welcome and thank you for joining me this weekend.
I am all for finding alternatives to something that might seem set in stone, yet no longer works. I think change and alternatives are a good thing. Sometimes finding alternatives, new ways to be, act and live is a choice, sometimes it’s imposed by circumstances. When it’s the latter, alternatives are perhaps not viewed in a positive light, but they can have surprising benefits and bring positive change. Change can, after all, be progress and open doors to opportunities and new ways of thinking. There’s little that I find more obtuse as the statement: ‘Why do things differently? It’s always been done this way’. I’m keeping this professional, so I shan’t tell you what my response to that tends to be, but I can tell you that if we lived by that notion, we’d still be here banging a couple of rocks together trying to make fire.
In my opinion, what’s happening right now in the world, as abhorrent, heartbreaking and deranged as it is, is a wake up call, a universal demand to change our ways and walk down a different path.
University of York Professor of International Politics Tony Heron and PhD candidate Paulina Flores Martinez highlight the domino effect of the Russia/Ukraine war on the rest of the world in their analysis Russia-Ukraine conflict: spiking prices and the threat to global food security.
The effects of the invasion can already be seen in the UK with sunflower oil being swapped for rapeseed oil without label change as shortages hit our country.
Despite what some Chancellor people might say, the spike in inflation rate is not simply down to the war – it started a while before – but the conflict will exacerbate it. Tim Lloyd, Professor of Economics at Bournemouth University and Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight at Kantar explain What rising inflation means for the food industry.
Someone who embraces alternatives and believes that things can be done differently for a better world is former Unilever executive and LIVEKINDLY CEO Kees Kruythoff. Find out how he marries his beliefs to his work and inspires people – from business moguls to his employees – in our interview.
Without alternatives, there’s no choice.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Stef
