Mirror image
Food tastes better in company. This effect holds true even if your company at the table is… yourself. Japanese researchers at Nagoya University discovered that if they sit in front of a mirror, people eat more and enjoy their food more. It even works if you substitute a photo of yourself for the mirror. The researchers hope to use the findings to tackle the eating problems of lonely seniors.
Smell
Freshly mown grass is the loveliest smell in the countryside, according to a survey by Bionext, the organic farmers’ branch organization. The public could choose from nine smells, not including the smells of fresh cow pats, a wet horse’s back or silage. Suspicious omissions: we smell a rat. In second place was a rain shower on a summer’s day. Now, does that smell any different on an organic farm?
Partridge
Unifarm staff have the death of a partridge on their conscience. The animal died during mowing, says the Binnenveld Oost Field Bird Group. It shouldn’t have happened. The agreement is that WUR trial fields are only mown after 1 July. The partridge is a protected bird. WUR has apologized, says the aptly named spokesperson Vink (vink = chaffinch).