Atenchong T. Nkobou
Atenchong is a PhD student in International and Rural Development, University of Reading. He is also a technical consultant for the European Forum on Agricultural Research and Development (EFARD).
Location United Kingdom
Activity
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Hi,
Welcome and thank you for the interesting conversations we have had so far in the course. This is the last week of our online course and we will be discussing ‘probiotics’.
I’m looking forward to the interesting and engaging comments and feedback from you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/healthy/prebiotics.shtml
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@NoemiVona thank you for your comment. What is the government’s position regarding the production of palm oil in such large-scale in Thailand? Are/is there any legislation on environmental protection? Are they obligatory and/or properly enforced? We will really like to know more. Share links too if you can.
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@ColetteGriffiths Thank you for this wonderful overview of the situation in Nigeria. Do you have any links or articles with further information?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hi,
I hope you are doing well and you are ready to start the second week of our exciting food controversies course. This week, we will be learning and discussing the various controversies surrounding palm oil and derivatives.
In fact, 11/20 of the items I regularly use contains some form of palm oil. It was not easy for me to recognise some of the... -
@MariekevanSchoonhoven Thank you for you take on ‘ interests and ethics. Is ethics universal? How would you address the question of ethics within a multicultural context?
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@AnaL thank you for your comment. Are there any controversies your have come across lately?
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@RachelS this is an interesting angle. Power relations also contribute to the food controversy debate. Are there any specific examples where power relations have contributed to a food controversy?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hi, welcome to the second run of our #FLFoodcontriversies course. I hope you are doing well during the current COVID-19 pandemic. I am Atenchong, and I will be your mentor through this course. I have a very interdisciplinary background with training in Agribusiness and Business Administration - specialised in international food safety management. I am...
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@PatriciaMartins thank you for your comment. Palm oil production can also be organic. Do you agree? And will you use palm oil labeled as ‘organic and environmentally friendly’ ?
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@ElenaPuppione Nice to know your learned something new.
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@GloryShemlon Thank you for your comment.
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@IanHorne Thanks I’ll definitely try this!
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Hi,
Welcome and thank you for the interesting conversations we have had so far in the course. This is the last week of our online course and we will be discussing ‘probiotics’.
I’m looking forward to the interesting and engaging comments and feedback from you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/healthy/prebiotics.shtml
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@NicolaWatson Thank you for your comment. I’m guessing you mean you were ‘low in good gut bacteria’ not ‘virus’’. How did you know you were low in ‘good gut bacteria’?
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@KseniaSolovey Thank you for the interesting questions raised. This short article from the BBC may be resourceful http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/healthy/prebiotics.shtml
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Hmmm @IanHorne you may have to share with us some of your yoghurt recipes. After we know what the pros and cons are..lol.
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@MarcoG Thank you for your reply. We may both have to do more research to know which countries use the most palm oil in food. However, plam oil is a frequently used ingredient in West and Central African cuisine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-oily-charms-of-west-african-cuisine/2012/02/21/gIQAhBx4fR_story.html
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@EzekielAwe thank you for your comment. Can you suggest an initiative like the one your proposed?
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@SamAbrams thank you for your comment. Can you elaborate on your point? What are the factors that make palm oils more acceptable?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hmmm!! This is a very exciting component of the course which bring in several complex issues regarding food value chains and institutional governance. The approach used by both instruments i.e. RSPO and POIG, seem to take a global approach, which is inherently laden with questions of power and interests. One may also begin to question the importance of local...
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@AnnaG nice idea. However, international mechanisms are usually voluntary and the enforcement procedures are hard to realise - especially with regards to non-state actors such as corporations, and multinational companies. In many cases, local recourse mechanism and consumer groups have championed the respect of best practice by multinational corporations - the...
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@AmitK thanks for the link from the BBC. Not sure what Iceland was thinking being so casual about the gravity and complexity of the problem. I checked today and they still sell NUTELLA online. Have they retracted their stance on this? Do you have any updates on how Iceland dealt with this controversy?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
@HeidiZamzow any links to your suggestions yet? Looking forward to the citations and to learning more about this.
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Atenchong T. Nkobou replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
@HeidiZamzow Thank you for your observation. The graphs are a representation of the data in the article.
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@AnnaG why do you think it’s ‘hard to monitor the sustainability of palm oil production’? Do you have any suggestions on how it can be improved?
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@GideonAlexAmpomah happy to know you learned a lot reading the articles. Can you share some of the interesting points you learned, and how that has changed or strengthened your opinion about palm oil?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
@HeidiZamzow no you didn’t. You can still access the discussions from the first week of the course. Most of the course participants talked about animal welfare.
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hi,
I hope you are doing well and you are ready to start the second week of our exciting food controversies course. This week, we will be learning and discussing the various controversies surrounding palm oil and derivatives.
In fact, I have gone through the 20 most regularly purchased items in my bathroom and kitchen shelves, and I must admit that over...
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@JurgenPeci Thank you for this! You have certainly gone through the course content of the week. We will be talking palm oil next week. I look forward to reading more from you about palm oil.
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@DianaC I am happy to found the article about Dr Insect Farmer interesting and useful. We are here to learn from each other.
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Hi, @BarbaraAiolfi Thank you for participating in the course. I not sure this is possible for data protection reasons. If you are interested in a particular participant, you can click on their profile to know more about them. Thanks again.
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
This week has been very interesting, and I have learned a lot about the complexities of food systems. I read broadly about how the cultural dimension and the organoleptic qualities of food can be a barrier to accepting alternative food sources. However, we all face a common challenge of ensuring that food production systems are sustainable and adhere to very...
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@CamillaGuidi Interesting thought. Thank you.
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@AriaSong Its interesting how your intercultural background makes it easy for you to accept alternative food choices. How can the cultural barriers to accepting alternative sources of food be broken? How do your friends, with a less intercultural background as yours, react to the ease with which you readily take to eat alternative foods?
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@JillB Thank you for your comment. Which do you think will have a more significant impact on our food choices in the future? Will environmental concerns push us to consume insects as an alternative source of food, or will hunger as a consequence of increasing demands and population growth? Are all these drivers interrelated?
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Thanks @LeahMunyendo for the nice comment and references. Can you share with us any open source article about this? It will be nice to know more about how insect protein compares with animal protein.
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@MicolDF thank you for your comment. As @AngelaTurner says insects are an enjoyable source of food in many parts of the world. The EU is already working on accepting insects as an part of Europe cuisine. You can read the article and tell us what you think about the EU’s decision.
Breaking news about the EU to approve insects for human consumption:...
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@RichardDennehy sometimes, just talking about something raises awareness that can ultimately lead to change. Opening up the space for debates about alternative sources of food production is one of many steps in the right direction. What do you think?
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@DarrenYeoman this sounds interesting. Thank you for your ver interest observation. You also sound very passionate about this. Are there any examples you can point to? What’s the difference between an informative advert and a pure marketing campaign? How can we know the difference as consumers?
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@AmitK Thank you for sharing this interesting link for the BBC. What comes to your mind when you think about the biochemical processes of the food we eat? Do you think our bodies selectively take-up the nutrients we need, and the rest is sent out as waste?
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@AnnaG Thank you for your insight. I particularly like your critique about the importation of insect-based proteins and their impact on the environment. Have you read about this somewhere? Can you share an article with us? Why do you think the importation of insect-base proteins to your country could be a problem?
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Good day everyone. I’ve enjoyed the high-level discussions we are having on this course. Thank you for your valued contributions.
The questions this course seeks to answer are, sometimes, tough questions. Yet, we must continue to engage with the difficult questions that emerge from the very complex food value chain in today’s world. For example, do we need...
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@ShinaOwolabi Thank you for your brilliant observations. Why do you think we still have a long way to go? What do you think could be holding us back?
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Wow!! I have learned a lot about controversies on the first day of the course. You have been very engaging and insightful. Thank you!
I have learned about controversies regarding the labeling of naturally glutenfree cornflour products in Italy as 'glutenfree,' to concerns related to the sugar content of the food we consume, and much more. In all,...
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@JurgenPeci nice bringing in the definition from the Oxford dictionary. What makes a controversy different from a scandal? Do you have any examples to share with us?
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@JoachimW This is an interesting angel of looking at food controversies. It’s interesting how a simple word could change something from a ‘normal’ way of doing things to a ‘controversy’ . Of course, the intensification of cattle farming is a huge controversy nowadays. How has this affected your personal food choices? Thanks for sharing the articles as...
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@DevonKnight these are very interesting examples you have here. What about intermittent fasting that makes it controversial? Can you share some of your experiences with us? What do you think about the controversies around vegan diets? Does it impact your food choices?
Looking forward to learning more from you.
Best
Atenchong -
Dear Amit,
Thank you for your very insightful articles and pointers. The articles also demonstrate how ‘politically charged’ some of these controversies can be. How have these controversies affected or informed your personal choices about food?
Thanks again
Atenchong -
Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hi,
I hope you are doing well and sticking to your government's and the WHO guidelines during these very challenging times. I am Atenchong, and I will be your mentor through this course. I have an interdisciplinary background with training in Agribusiness and Business Administration (international food safety management). I am particularly interested in...
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Atenchong T. Nkobou made a comment
Hi,
I hope you are doing well and sticking to your government's and the WHO guidelines during these very challenging times. I am Atenchong, and I will be your mentor through this course. I have an interdisciplinary background with training in Agribusiness and Business Administration (international food safety management). I am particularly interested in...
