------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007
http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricontinental/tricon.htm For public viewing. Registration at The International Centre Goa. (Ph: +91-832-2452805 to 10) Online Media Partner: http://www.GOANET.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think its a bit more complicated than that. Starbucks or any other fast food / drink venue would be hotly denied a roost in many parts of "high brow" locations in the UK, especially in London or other highly valued residential areas. In fact its difficult to get a shop open unless there are already Classified areas for these. Star Bucks & other fast food / drink outlets are a pain to see everywhere you go. So many of the traditional places are closing down due to the American influence. We all love the diverse foods & drinks that come from all over the world here, in the UK. The first ever fast food take away was Fish & Chips, closely followed by the "Indian" take-away (this has much improved from the original of 50 years ago, but it has undergone some horrific changes to meet the European palate in the major cities over the following decades, but thankfully, the originals are coming back, to find Goan (fish) curry, or the Goan Vindaloo (pork not necessary, but chicken can be used instead, or Lamb) the way its made in Goa can be found (again thankfully) with the help of "native" chefs from the sub-continent ("first generation do it best.........."), also many from Bangladesh, the various DIFFERENT flavours you CANNOT beat, as there is NO beating the fresh ingredients & cooked to order. This can be with COFFEE too. We have so many different styles of coffee making now, with milk, with more milk, with less milk, with even lesser milk, very frothy, overwhelmingly frothy (hardly any coffee in it), expresso, cappucino, muciato and dozens of flavours to choose from. Oh dear, and all costing about £1.50 to £2.95 or more depending where you are and WHAT SIZE you want. WHO drinks a pint of coffee in a polystyrene cup but a caffeine freak? And they drink 3 or 4 or more of these every day. Cant start the day without a coffee, then need another at morning break, one at lunch and one afterwards on the way home. Ridiculous, as are MacDonalds & KFC with their fatty input (seen the size of some Americans who eat these fast foods every day?, they eat enough to keep a whole family going for a WEEK in some parts of the world, not to mention also here in England. Star Bucks & all the other fast food companies contribute millions of tons daily to the landfill sites of items that will not bio-degrade for centuries! What will our future generations think of us, not only poluting the atmosphere as we are doing & creating horrific damage to the planet (contributions from China & America are the biggest, Russia & the newly independant satellite countries, but also Korea, India & the newly-welcomed East European countries) but we also damaging the earth underfoot, by burying all our sins, hoping it will go away........) Say NO to Star Bucks & the other fast food / fast drink companies invading you and your space, in your area, demonstrate against any more of the fast food outlets, we have ENOUGH already! I was stunned to see in Mauritius there was a KFC in Port Louis, the capital some 15 years ago, but also stunned the following year to see that MACDONALDS also had planted itself only across the road, with MORE appearing in nearby seaside areas. IF you want these fast foods, then they should be EAT IN and ONLY on re-cycleable PAPER which comes from maintained forests, napkins ok, wooden implements to eat with, or paper containers, but ALL THIS PLASTIC is nausiating to see scattered about the streets, filling up street bins, which are then tossed out onto the pavement by overfills. Some areas of LONDON are disgusting with overfilled bins, not to mention the rubbish is not collected at the right times to ensure the streets & pavements are kept clean. Its bad enough to see this on CEMENTED land where we live, but on the grass, in bushes and on the beaches? Enough is enough! In Mauritius if the kids want to have a KFC, we do get it, we also get a McDonalds (chicken not beef), but to eat in and NOT in plastic trays! Its paper. In the UK if we take away a KFC we ensure it has NO plastic (including sauces etc), so maybe once in a while we go for it, but it is not our regular diet. Even those who preach about this fall into temptation but if you specify NO PLASTIC, they will do their best and remove ALL plastic but really is this one person going to do improve anything unless the WHOLE of the TAKE AWAY (or as they say, "to go....") thing is sold in PAPER buckets (unwaxed??) & all packaging comes from maintained forests? No more "Star Bucks" please, certainly "not in my back yard" ........... and would you really want all the lovely Goan & Indian (traditional places you eat replaced by these companies who bring over the American culture to your kids? No of course not. One in a town or city is enough, maybe one its too much already! If we did not have access to this & we were not continually inundated with ads on tv & kids magazines & posters in the streets, we would not be thinking of KFC, may just some healthy options made at home or the kiosk down the street. Ah, yes progress, quick efficiently processed and produced food, full of chemicals and E numbers to get you twitching & itching, sneezing and hyper-active, its got us this far, but how much further are we to be dragged........? Regards John Monteiro Berkshire, England
