Three cheers for porcine champions, Jamie Oliver, Joanna Lumley, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tracy Ward (aka the Marchioness of Worcester) who have admirably used their high profiles to raise awareness of the pig industry in a number of television programmes aired this month.

Pigs generally suffer from a bad press and arguably are the most mistreated of all farm animals, something that was confirmed late one night when I slipped into an industrial pig factory in Berkshire along with the animal welfare charity VIVA, who were filming undercover footage.

‘…sometimes it's just a trip down the corridor between heaven and hell. It was 3.16pm when Joe's skin turned a duskier shade of pearl and a nurse stopped smiling. When she wheeled him off on a silver trolley to intensive care, and we chased her down the corridor, it was as if she'd taken our insides away.’

Joe was born in 1998 to Nia Wyn and her husband, Alex. Their joy was short-lived, shattered by the revelation that their beautiful son was severely brain damaged. They were told he would be blind and incapable of walking or talking. Even worse, he'd be so retarded he would never recognize them as his parents.

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Jeni Reddy enjoys a mud walk in Britain’s first barefoot park

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In these times of uncertainty, it is very easy to feel anxious and depressed about the threats to our economy, our livelihoods and to the environment, writes Louise Ellis.

However, a research study by scientists at University College, London, shows that people who make an effort to stay happy in stressful situations have healthier levels of key body chemicals. 

But how can we maintain happiness and hope in troubled times? 

The Shministim are Israeli high school students who have been imprisoned for refusing to serve in an army that occupies the Palestinian Territories.

December 18 was the launch date of a global campaign to release them from jail.  You can help to set them free.

Find out more HERE.