Last week, I was fortunate enough to be asked to host an event in Harrogate called "Salon North", where three authors give a short talk, followed by a few questions from the audience. It was a privilege to be asked to host, and my brain was full by the end of it! One of the best parts was switching my phone to do not disturb, and allocating time to read all three books. Much as I adore reading, I haven't managed to complete a book since our holiday in Fuerteventura almost a year ago. Finishing three in a week felt great.
"Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet" by Stuart Gillespie is a thoughtful, moving book about the obesity crisis and 'big food', and the elaborate measures that huge companies have taken to avoid tighter regulation. Some bits I've learned from reading Gillespie's book include the staggering revelation that a quarter of all adult deaths are due to poor diet, and in the UK, seven in ten are obese. Globally, one in eight will have diabetes by 2050, if obesity and dietary trends continue unchecked.
Living with obesity is obviously not healthy, but the individual is not to blame, although a lot of the 'big food' narrative centres around the choices we make. Obesity costs the UK £98 billion, according to a study by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Meanwhile, the food market is a mess. There are 172 flavours of Pringles around the world, yet fruit and veg remain unaffordable for many.
Henry Dimbleby produced a hard-hitting report that's been kicked into the long grass by successive governments, and his recommendations still haven't been implemented. Meanwhile, the British diet industry is worth £2 billion a year. Weight loss drugs are soaring, and attempts to regulate the food sector are met with that old chestnut, 'the nanny state'. One former Conservative MP even stated when challenged about free school meals that he "did not believe in nationalising children". I'm not making that quote up, I promise.
Food stories in the media tend to focus on restaurant reviews, scare stories, air friers, or highlights from the Great British Bake Off. We need a more honest conversation. There's enough food to go around, yet in the UK, almost three million people received emergency food parcels from the Trussell Trust in the year to April 2023. I'd love to one day live in a country where food banks are no longer necessary.
A couple more bits from the book that stood out...British children now consume on average 30 times the volume of soft drinks that their counterparts did in 1950. And in Chile, when cartoon characters were banned from cereal boxes, the company employed people to dress up as Tony the Tiger and wander around supermarkets. They also printed the cartoons on the actual product, to circumvent a labelling ban. I wish I was making this up, but I'm not!
It's all in "Food Fight", a book well worth your time. We need the Government to step up to the plate (pardon the pun), and take some action. It's a ticking health time bomb, and we need a more grown-up conversation about 'big food' and introducing more effective regulation. Bans on junk food ads in London and other cities have led to a marked reduction in hospital admissions. It's a start at least.
I think of it a bit like the tobacco industry, and the marked changes in our approach to smoking since I was growing up, when restaurants had 'no smoking' areas where smoke used to drift across and be difficult to avoid. Labels like 'nanny state' are unhelpful, and reading Stuart Gillespie's book will make you feel fired up to help find solutions, whilst at the same time you'll be flabbergasted at what a mess things currently are.
This book is a call to arms, and I'd certainly recommend it. The Sunak Government shelved plans to ban "buy one get one free" deals, on the basis that people have the "right to choose", citing rising global food prices. I find it baffling that supermarkets can offer veg for pennies in the run-up to Christmas and Easter, yet healthy items seldom seem to attract discounts at other times of the year. It's time for the Starmer Government to show that 'change' is more than a slogan, and tackle this issue with some positive action, not just continuing the policy of kicking the coke can down the road.
