KFC shortage and fast food britain some academic resource links!

Recently KFC has suffered a chicken shortage . Here are some recommended links for finding out more about fried chicken and takeways in the UK.


How much is the market for KFC?


Statista quotes figures that the number of KFC shops grew from 2010-2017.

In 2017, there were 21,487 KFC restaurants worldwide.

According to Scarborough Research, over 35 million people visited a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the spring of 2016. The average sales per system unit in the U.S. was 1,060 thousand U.S. dollars

in the UK BBC quoted data from Mintel - In 2017, UK customers spent an estimated £2.2bn in chicken restaurants

Family Food statistics give annual data on food purchased by households

National Diet and Nutrition survey examines types of food eaten by nutritional value eg levels of salt, sugar and fat.

Researchers in Cambridge found the number of fast food outlets rising rapidly. in Norfolk from the 1990s - 2008 Over the 18 year period, the number of takeaway food outlets rose by 45%, from 265 to 385 outlets.


How many fast food outlets are in your area?

use the Cedar assessment tool. developed by the University of Cambridge. It allows for detailed exploration of the geography of food retail access across England.

It calculated that The number of fast food shops close to schools is increasing in all English regions. In June 2014 the average English school had 2.3 takeaways within 400 metres. By September 2017 it had risen to 2.6.


Alternatively look at the map on the guardian from July 2017. There were more takeways in poorer areas. at that time there were 56,638 fast food shops in England, occupying more than a quarter of all food outlets

Ofcom has explored the impact of advertising for fast food on children

NHS evidence has reviewed the evidence that easy access to takeways increases the risk of obesity

Public Health Matters from the UK government.in March 2017 examined the link between the food enviornment and public health.

World Day of social Justice 2018: Migrant labour resources

The 20th February was World Day of social Justice. the 2018 theme was workers on the Move




ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization was adopted on on 10 June 2008

The official website has related United Nations documents and declarations as well as details of the 2018 events.

For further information on migrant labour try these recommended academic resources.

How many migrant workers are there?

Try the global estimates from the ILO

IOM Migration data portal has good visualizations and recent data

The World Bank has data on labour migration and remittances.

OECD International Migration outlook includes movements and trends.

The UK national statistics office has data on the impact of international migration on the UK labour market. There is also some research on the impact of migrant workers on UK businesses


Standards and regulation.

ILO has international standards on migration.

The UNESCO website has information on the International Migration Convention.

Student volunteering week

This week is student volunteering week in the UK. It is supported by SVN (Student Volunteering Network)  a peer support network for UK HE employees. The official website provides details of aims and  events.
for more information on  volunteering trends try these resources.

NCVO is a membership organisation of over 13,000 organisations.
It produces civil society almanac for subscribers but free on its website is general research and data on volunteering  and its trends. some basic free data is available on the website

The Community Life survey  contains statistics on people and numbers of volunteers
Volunteering Matters has been leading UK volunteering in policy and practice for more than 50 years. Founded in 1962 (and known as Community Service Volunteers until 2015) Its website has information on volunteering plus some research on who volunteers


On a related matter background information on charities and levels of charitable giving can be found on the Charities Aid Foundation website.
this includes the latest Charitable giving report 2017.

Abuse by Aid workers - get some facts from these resources

 This week oxfam officials and aid workers have faced accusations of sexual abuse
Charity Commission response to allegations
Earlier report on Oxfam completed in December 2017
concluded 'the charity does demonstrate elements of good practice in its safeguarding management and how it responds to allegations. But we concluded there is further work for the charity to do to in respect of HR culture, and the overall governance and management of safeguarding in the charity'
UK government strategy for dealing with  safeguarding in charities.
Oxfam safeguarding policies. updated January 2018
Response to allegations.

However unfortunately allegations of misconduct and abuse by aid workers are not new.
in 2002. Charges of extensive sexual exploitation of refugees in West Africa by aid workers and United Nations peacekeepers were investigated by the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services. The full document can be read online.
In 2008 Save the Children published No One to Turn To: The under-reporting of child sexual exploitation and abuse by aid workers and peacekeepers, 27 May B
The Building Safer Organizations project was launched with NGOs to address the issues. It published in 2007 some guidelines. An evaluation of its effectiveness was published in 2006 by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

The Executive Committees on Humanitarian Affairs and Peace and Security (ECHA/ECPS) United Nations (UN) and Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse was established in February 2005 with the aim of preventing acts of sexual exploitation and abuse and improving response to it when it occurs. view some materials via the Save the Children resource library.

The Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by our own staff  was established in 2011
It supports the establishment of UN and NGO policies and develops tools so as to assist in protecting from sexual exploitation and abuse bystaff

Interagency Standing Committee also produced policies and guidance. the IASC is primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance. It is a unique forum involving the key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners.

 However there have also been issues relating to abuse of aid workers. For information on the nature and extent of this.
Try Humanitarian womens Network.It has some survey data from 2016 on the extent of the problem
in May 2017 Tufts University published a report on violence and assault of aid workers.
Report the Abuse was monitoring the situation. its website is now archived as funding has been withdrawn.

Are you celebrating Valentines Day- try our social science resources

Are you one of the millions of people celebrating Valentines day today?

according to Statista.average predicted spending on chocolate will rise by 16% this year.

their data shows that in 2017 - the average spend for women was 20.42 pounds while men spent 39.70 !

Here are some great sources for exploring the social history of Valentines Day

One of the earliest surviving Valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife, which commences.

"Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée..."

— Charles d'Orléans, Rondeau VI, lines 1–2
See some examples of his poetry (in French only) via historic copies from Gallica

Early Valentines in English are the

the Paston Letters, written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston "my right well-beloved Valentine. They have been digitised by a British Library project . You can view images of the text online

as well as a discussion of the medieval origins of Valentines day from curators

It form s part of the fabulous new Discovering medieval literature website which has examples of original manusacripts plus contextual essays.

Fabulous UK collections of historic Valentines cards include:

Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection at Manchester Metropolitan University which gathers 450 Valentine's Day cards dating from early nineteenth century Britain, printed by the major publishers of the day. view some examples online from 1865

Dobbs, kidd and co.

and a gallery of images which include vinegar valentines!

The
Museum of London has over 1,700 cards

explore them online via Collections online.

The Victorian and Albert Museum also has an extensive collection. This blog post highlight their history with some interesting images. Look out for the snake in the grass example!
search for more examples in their collections