British Food Policies.
Health 'should govern food policy'
People's health is at risk because of the
way British food is being produced and
marketed, according to a report from a top
team of academics. The report argues that
public
health - and the not the
vested interests of the food and farming
industry - should be the key factor which
governs policy. It says that health issues
have plunged food policy into crisis, and
that the turmoil will continue unless the
government re-thinks its approach.
"Current policy is neither efficient nor
delivering good human and environmental
health," say the report's editors. "Health
is often an afterthought in policy decisions
in farming and food when it should be
central. "Poor nutrition is a major
explanation for the UK's health
inequalities. National health priorities
must be reflected priorities for the farming
and food sectors."
The report says current food policy is
dominated by concerns about food safety yet
food poisoning costs less than £1bn a year.
This is dwarfed by the cost of diet-related
diseases. For instance, coronary vascular
disease costs £10bn a year.
Policy failings
The report, "Why health is the key for the
future of farming and food" gives a number
of examples of where current policy falls
down: while obesity rises, retail planning
makes it hard to walk or bike to the shops
it is becoming ever more expensive to buy
healthy foods rather items which are bad for
us
one in five children eat no fruit in a week
and three in five eat no leafy green
vegetables
The report says that if people ate as much
fruit and vegetables as the government
wanted, this would merely lead to a rise in
the import bill. "Why are we importing
apples and pears when we have a perfect
climate for them?" asks the report.
The report features contributions from a
raft of experts in the field. It has been
edited by Professor Tim Lang, of the
Centre
for Food Policy, Thames
Valley University, and Dr Geof Rayner, UK
Public Health Association.
It argues that farming and food policy
should:
give equal weight to both human and
environmental health
encourage diversity of foods and
biodiversity in fields
the food supply chain should decrease its
reliance on non-renewable energy
food costs should more fully reflect their
real costs of production and distribution
encourage food supply chains to be as local
and as short as possible
The findings of a government policy
commission on the future of farming and food
in the UK is expected to be published next
week. |
|
Mediterranean Diet Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mediterranean Diet
|
Disclaimer
| Blog
|
Archives
|
Affiliates
|
Mediterranean Diet Book
