"[We simply must find] more productive, safer methods that put carbon back in the soil to produce safer and better food," Al Gore urged Americans in a recent interview in TGDaily. The former Vice President also said we need to initiate an organic vegetarian diet for the general population since industrial agriculture is contributing to the relentless, growing problem of global warming. According to him, meat eating has prompted forests to clear due to higher demands for cattle, adding that synthetic nitrogen use in fertilizers continues to contribute to global warming. Mr Gore was only half wrong.

The Tea Party's Michelle Bachmann - the leading Republican Presidential contender - said yesterday the cyclones and tempests slamming into the US are God's warning to Americans to change their ways. Maybe God's a vegetarian, too. In response to the laughter her comments elicited she said her remarks were meant to be a joke. And they were. Neither Mr Gore nor Ms Bachmann will be attending the Gala Awards Dinner at the Carbon Farming Conference, but there will be jokes aplenty and poetry and songs galore as part of our Talent Quest. Bring your guitar, your bush poetry and your best smile.