“We are what we eat” – German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach in 1848. In the pandemic we learnt the harsh truth of this as the majority of deaths involved pre-existing obesity or excess weight.

A critical part of building back is the need to “re-set” our relationship with
our food. It is this poor relationship that drives much bad health and
health inequalities. While our policy makers argue about sugar taxes and
pre watershed advertising of HFSS products, many of our children are
never learning the pleasure of unadulterated food cooked at home or even
grown at home. Meanwhile:
• 50% of the food that we eat is ULTRA processed (in Portugal 10% /
in USA 66%); this food bears little resemblance to actual food.
• We worry about childhood hunger but over 30% of our Primary stage
children are fat.
• It has been estimated that if everyone actually ate 5-a-day (much
less the 10 it should be), UK fruit and vegetable production could
not cope to the tune of 2.1 million tonnes – about 25% of the
current market.• Half of our food is already now imported with all the attendant risk
for security of supply and even “taste”.
There is some good news: The pandemic forced many families to come up
with their own food policies. “Cooking at home has even become the new
commute, providing a clear separation between work time and home time, the
study claims, while more than half of households have been more carefully
planning recipes and meals and intend to carry on” – The Annual Food and
Drink report from Waitrose.
The challenge of the pandemic is to get the majority of people enjoying
a healthier relationship with their food and to get the country back to
producing more of and being proud of, our own food.

 

 

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