Food for thought

4th July
It was interesting to read that NFWI is about to launch its first range of branded food products for store shelves. There will also be some non-alcoholic drinks on offer and there would be an on-line service too. The WI is being encouraged by the trade magazine The Grocer so let's hope this will be a successful venture. I wonder what the former stalwarts of WI Markets will make of this move.
The really good news released at the same time in the national media is that at long last the Powers that Be in the Government are addressing the time scale for the adoption of children. About five years ago Winslow WI wanted NFWI to accept a resolution on this very problem but it wasn't selected to go to the national AGM so watch the press on progress with this heart-breaking problem.Perhaps if the WI had been able to bring more publicity to the issue it would have saved more disappointment for would-be parents and years of "temporary" foster care for hundreds of children. The article I have just read states that only 70 young babies were adopted last year compared with 4000 in the 1970s and it is not that there is less demand---just too much ridiculous bureaucracy.(Actually the paper didn't say the last bit but I can!)

28th June
Today 114 WI members converged on the Holiday Inn in Aylesbury to enjoy a lunch and listen to Katharine McMahon at the Bucks Literary Lunch 2011. Katharine is the author of "The Rose of Sebastopol" and "The Alchemist's Daughter". She is also a very good speaker so everyone was happy to hear her describe her work as a novelist and teacher at Hertfordshire and Warwick Universities. It was a pleasant room and a friendly atmosphere. The venue was new to WI and avoided the problems of hiring outside caterers to produce a meal in village hall kitchens with only limited facilities.We will have to wait to see what the members thought of the event before deciding to repeat it in this format. There is also the consideration of who to book as speaker because the written word may be brilliant but public speaking weak. Today we knew we were on to a winner and Katharine was delighted that we were able to sell all the copies of her novels which we had obtained from the publishers.Our reading group enjoys Katharine's books and finds there is always plenty to talk about, the characters and the historical settings.