Turkish Hotel has its own organic farm

The five-star SENTIDO Perissia hotel, in the Turkish holiday region of Side, will be offering products from its own organic farm. Guests visiting any of the hotel's six restaurants will enjoy home-grown olives, tomatoes, grapes and figs, plus freshly-harvested pistachios and peanuts and other fresh produce.

Ahmet Turgan, General Manager of the hotel said: "On our 500 hectare farm we harvest organic apples and organic vegetables, we press our own olive oil and we produce wine from our organic grapes. All this effort is worth it because good catering is an important holiday decision-factor for many guests. 37 per cent of our guests are regular visitors.

"Fruit, vegetables, olives, olive oil, bread, jam and nuts are served with organic quality and without additives directly from the farm. Our cooks prepare many of the dishes directly in front of the guests."

The hotel's farm benefits from its location on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The Turkish Riviera is known as the Garden of Turkey.

The slopes of the Taurus mountains ensure there is an ideal climate. Fruit, vegetables and cereals grow especially well on the fertile plains of the Mediterranean region. The farm of the hotelier's family is worked by 60 staff. Olive trees and grapevines grow on an area of 250 hectares, while the fruit trees and vegetable gardens cover the rest of thje 250 hectares. The olive oil and the wine is pressed and produced on the farm. Some 60 per cent of the wine offered in the hotel comes from its own vineyard.

The five-star SENTIDO Perissia is on a long, sandy beach and located some 3km away from the historic centre of Side.

Guests are able to choose from a buffet restaurant and five à-la-carte restaurants specialising in fish dishes, barbecue food, Turkish, Italian and Chinese dishes. Five bars, a Turkish café and three pools ensure a perfect holiday.

You'll be able to relax in the newly-renovated wellness centre, with sauna and Turkish bath. Sports enthusiasts are well-catered for, with water sports, tennis, volleyball and basketball plus aerobics and pool gymnastics.

Families with children are well-provided for as the hotel offers a children’s club with an outdoor play area, activities, cinema and a separate swimming pool for children.

The SENTIDO Perissia has 352 rooms with marble floors, satellite TV, coffee and tea-making facilities, mini-bar and air conditioning.

SENTIDO Hotels & Resorts can be booked on the internet portal sentidohotels.com or through tour operators such as Thomas Cook and Neckermann Reisen.

FACTFILE:
SENTIDO Hotels & Resorts is an international hotel brand founded in 2009. It unites 30 hotels & resorts in Egypt, Greece, Kenya, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Cyprus, plus two Nile-based cruise ships.

The hotels have a minimum of 4 Star status, are strategically positioned near beaches and operated under the terms of direct or regional master franchise contracts.

The concept is aimed toward discerning singles, couples and small families, who, besides quality and service, value a health-conscious cuisine and wellness facilities along with a wide-ranging sports and entertainment programme.

Book the hotels directly online through the internet portal www.sentidohotels.com. The company is part of the Thomas Cook tourism group.

The National Trust announces MyFarm experiment

The National Trust is looking for 10,000 people to take part in a mass on-line public farming experiment where they will make key decisions at one of the Trust's working farms at Wimpole in Cambridgeshire.

The MyFarm experiment aims to connect thousands of people with how food is produced by giving them a greater say in how a real working farm is run.

The Wimpole Farm Manager, Richard Morris, will set monthly options for the 10,000 Farmers, who will debate and vote on issues including whether to grow wheat, barley or oats as part of the autumn sowing, through to which animals to buy and rear.

For a small subscription fee, farmers will get a daily behind-the-scenes insight into how the 1,200 acre organic farm operates, the right to make decisions on the farm by voting regularly and a family ticket to visit the farm for a day.

The MyFarm website will include video updates, webcams, live webchats, debates and comment and opinion from both well-known farming experts and National Trust tenant farmers.

Results from a new survey published to mark the MyFarm launch reveal that people in Great Britain rate their knowledge of food and farming at an average of only 4.5 out of 10, with 75 per cent of respondents hungry to know more about how food is produced.

Mothers, in particular, show there is a need for a new way of learning - rating the importance of their children understanding where their food comes from at 7.5 out of 10, yet only 8 per cent felt confident that they knew enough to teach their children all about it.

Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust said: "MyFarm is an exciting new project that will give thousands of families and classrooms across the country the opportunity to experience the highs and lows and often complex decisions that farmers face on a daily basis.

"As the country's biggest farmer - more than 80 per cent of the 250,000 hectares of land under our care is farmed in some way - it's our role to re-connect people with farming to promote better understanding and greater protection for the land on which we all depend."

Richard Morris, the National Trust’s Farm Manager at Wimpole said: "MyFarm is Farmville for real - real farming decisions with real farming consequences. By influencing the work at Wimpole our Farmers will start to understand the effects and implications of their own decisions. They will also witness first hand how unplanned events can turn a profitable year on its head.

"This winter hundreds of sugar beet growers have had to plough in their crops because of intense frost damage, resulting in a whole year of costs with no return. What surprises the weather holds for Wimpole this year only time will tell; but it will affect the farm’s success and the choices the Farmers can make."

With only 10,000 Farmer places available, interested parties should sign up now. More information can be found at www.my-farm.org.uk.

Organic Care Systems: Ethical hair products for Earth Day

Award-winning hair company OCS, recently mentioned in the likes of Vogue, the New York Times, the Wall St Journal and the Observer magazine, and winner of a Celebs on Sunday Beauty Survey award, are the perfect product choice for Earth Day. As well as using certified organic ingredients and carrying the Choose Cruelty Free bunny logo, they have implemented a number of clever green initiatives.

Factory

* Now uses shredding from the office as packaging material. They also shred cardboard boxes and use them instead of bubble wrap.

* IBCs (containers for bulk product such as peroxide) are now being removed by an interested party instead of being sent to landfill.

Offices

* Installed motion sensors on the corridor lights to reduce electrical usage.

* Windows in reception have been glazed with a film which filters the light and reduces heat loss in winter and negates the need for cooling in summer.

* Replaced the printers with more efficient ones with energy saving functions to save electricity. They now all have compatible consumables as well, so reducing consumable waste.

Whole company

* An incentivised ‘Leave Your Car At Home’ scheme has been launched for all staff. Points can be earned each day for walking, cycling, jogging, using public transport or car pooling. The points can then be converted into gift vouchers of varying values for certain stores / experiences.

* Training has been given to all staff in waste recognition and a suggestion scheme for improvements has been launched. The ‘Leave Your Car At Home’ scheme came through the suggestion box.

* Installed water saving Hippo bags in the toilet cisterns.

* The company which supplies the printers sponsors a tree planting for every 100,000 prints we make, through the Future-Forests programme.

But don’t just choose them because they’re green, choose them because they perform brilliantly! OCS is a UK-based company (the country’s largest own-brand manufacturer of hair products) and the range includes ammonia-free colour, shampoos, conditioners, treatments and styling products, which contain Soil Association and ECOCERT Organic Certified ingredients.

The brand has never tested on animals and the raw materials they use meet the strict criteria set by Choose Cruelty Free. Parabens and other nasties are excluded in favour of ingredients with natural, hard working properties, such as sunflower oil (a natural UV inhibitor), Fennel Seed (conditioner); White Willow Bark (conditioner and antiseptic properties); Sea Mayweed (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and soothing properties); Geranium Oil (anti-inflammatory properties); Bergamot Fruit oil (Antiseptic properties); Comfrey (conditioner, soothing, moisturising); and Wheat (conditioner, strengthens and protects hair) among others. OCS is the salon professional brand to choose for top quality products with a clear conscience.

For information on Earth Day visit http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011

For information on Choose Cruelty Free visit http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au/

To find your nearest OCS salon/stockist, call 01590 613 490 or see www.organiccoloursystems.com

(EDITOR: See? You can look good but also be good for the environment, too!)