Green Living: Swine flu

Quick question - are those surgical masks really going to make a difference?

Assuming the hype isn't true and we're still all around to read this, there is a message here about what happens when people interfere too much with ecosystems.

The farm being investigated as the possible Ground Zero of the swine flu epidemic had been under attack for months from locals complaining that it wasn't being managed properly.

Closer to home it's easy to forget that the move towards organic farming isn't just about eating expensive chicken. It's a move away from heavily processed, pesticide heavy farming techniques to more natural methods of production.

The more mankind interferes with nature, the worse the results get. And while some scientists view genetically modified food as a safe way to lift millions out of starvation, it may be that once the genie is out of the bottle we have more to cope with than we imagined.

Having lived in Mexico I'm very concerned and hope that a swift resolution to this crisis is found. Thousands of people in Mexico and Central America are barely surviving as it is, let alone having to cope with swine flu.

We, in the developing world, need to be sure that our exports - products, services or techniques such as intensive farming - are doing good for the populations, not just shareholders.

- Do you or your company have an environmentally friendly product or service you'd like featured in this column? Let us know by contacting Seventeen, a sustainable alternative for your event management needs, at andrew@seventeenevents.co.uk.