FOOD

It's time we learnt the truth about all the issues that surround the food we consume. How much do we really know about origins, farming, environmental implications and all the other issues that we cause an impact on, every single time we take a trip to a supermarket. So how well informed are we? Not as much as you would think! Ultimately we only know what the government are pressured into allowing us to know and the odd ‘Expose’ by the media. So how are we to make informed and socially conscious decisions? Well, in essence, we can’t. We are not equipped to make well-informed decisions when it comes to the food we consume as we just don’t have enough knowledge and education on the key issues affecting the global food, farming and agriculture industry.

It is this lack of knowledge that has prompted me to conduct a considerable amount of research in the hope that I can help people (including myself) understand some of the news-worthy issues, trends and practises that affect our everyday choices when purchasing and consuming food.

If you live in England, there is no possible way you could have escaped the somewhat shocking, recent campaign focusing on the origins of the food we consume as a nation. The campaign spearheaded by Jamie Oliver of “Naked Chef” fame and ably assisted by two other culinary heavy-weights…. Internationally renowned Chef Gordon Ramsay of “Hells Kitchen & Kitchen Nightmares” fame and respected food writer and author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

This series of programmes were created with the intent to shock the public on common farming practises taking place both in the UK & the USA. Shedding light on the process of rearing poultry from birth to slaughter, and actually slaughtering birds live on television for all to see exactly what the REAL process involves. Including the cruel culling of baby male chicks, that have little use as they cannot lay eggs or reproduce and so are gassed to death in batches. They also comparing practises from the 1950’s to modern day farming, featuring the birth of the ‘Frankenstein’ chicken (created by our American friends) which produces a monster-sized bird with giant breasts to satisfy the overwhelming demand for white meat in the USA. Bigger is definitely not better in this instance. Every method of rearing poultry is covered, from free-range and organic farming to battery and barn farming.

What’s the difference?

Well, it’s complicated and this is exactly the point of the whole campaign. Their ultimate aim is to strive to educate the consumer into making informed decisions when it comes to purchasing their food. The focus here is not solely about heightening awareness to cruelty in farming practises but also about the quality of produce you get, which is directly reflected in the price you pay. I.e. If you normally take advantage of the ‘deals’ available in supermarkets, such as pay £5.00 ($10 USD) for 2 medium/large sized chickens, then how on earth can you expect quality? And out of that £2.50 per bird, the British farmer only gets about 3 pence, which is appalling as we aren’t even a third world country. So this (and so much more besides) has sparked a nation-wide debate.

Ask yourself, if you would you pay more money to ensure you get a better quality product? And is organic the same as free-range? If not, which is best? Most of us are (perhaps secretly) are a little unclear as to what the true definition of organic produce actually is. Quite frankly, we cannot be blamed for our lack of clarity on this particular subject, as supermarkets and food producers are so clever in their labelling, that for most of us normal folks, it can make it impossible for us to know what we are getting in return for our hard earned monies!

To begin with, there are two different definitions for organic practise. The first relates to crop farming and stipulates that all crops should be grown without the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers and human waste or sewage of any kind. Further more, any processing involved must be free of ionizing radiation and any food additives. The second definition relates to the farming and rearing of livestock and stipulates that livestock must be reared without the routine use of antibiotics, growth hormones and lastly must not involve any genetically modified feed.

So, now that’s all cleared up… Is that all we need to know? Well, not exactly. Because one of the most important things that NOBODY is telling us is this… Organic does NOT always necessarily mean that you are getting the best produce you can possibly get. Now, I’m in no way advocating we all refrain from eating organic produce, but I feel that so many people just jump on the “Trend-train” when it comes to organic food, often paying double the normal price for produce, when they really have no idea what they are buying in to! I believe we should always endeavour to make decisions consciously and strive to obtain as much knowledge as possible about our choices, especially when we are being asked to part with more money than the norm.

The only benefit of buying organic produce is that you can (almost) always be certain that the food that you are buying is pesticide and chemical free. This is, of course, a good thing, however when it comes to meat, I must admit that I don’t particularly go for organic. This is largely because I just want the BEST meat and I don’t feel organic meat is the most superior variety available. Although I’m still happy to use organic meat, I think it’s mainly overpriced and there are no guarantees of its flavour and quality, just its organic rearing. Personally, I feel that the best meat usually comes when the animal has a stress-free and happy life.

It may sound stupid, but it's been proven that when livestock have enough space to roam around freely, exercise well, have fresh air, good feed and are allowed to graze, it results in better quality, slower-growing meat, with less trauma. Trauma is commonly incurred in ‘Intensive Farming’ practises, where livestock are packed together in densely over-populated barns (often in their thousands) with no fresh air or natural daylight and the overcrowding means that they regularly incur illness that can often go unnoticed and in some cases live stock are left to mix with dead animals that were unable to survive the conditions of ‘Intensive Farming’.

I’m not alone in my belief in happier animals = better meat. Any Chef worth his salt, will echo my sentiment. “Free-Range” are the words you should look for when buying, meat and poultry… And let’s not forget eggs. Eggs, the one thing we overlook when it comes to quality. So many people buy plain old ‘Value’ or ‘Economy’ eggs. Instead, you should be looking for the ‘Free-Range’ variety, which are better quality, more wholesome and more flavoursome eggs, ultimately from happier chickens. If you think about it, so many things we buy on a regular basis, contain eggs… such as mayonnaise and ready-meals etc. which make it extremely hard to avoid poor quality eggs, if that’s what you are choosing to do.

Don’t mistake me for some animal-loving hippy… All I’m saying is that we should be aware of what we are eating, what ultimately goes into our bodies. If a cow has mad-cow disease (Cruetzfeld Jakob Disease or ‘CJD’) you wouldn’t eat it would you? So why would you eat meat which was farmed intensively, as often livestock are also riddled with disease, disfigurement and ill health. Ultimately the poor health of the livestock is being passed on to you, although unlike CJD, you may not die as a result, although it still can’t be a good thing, can it?

Organic and free-range issues aside, there seems to be a steady increase of things for we the consumer to have to consider these days. Now we are being asked to think about things like ‘Fair Trade’ farming, which relates to wide range of products such as fruits, vegetables, coffee, sugar, flowers and so much more. The basis for “Fair Trade” farming is that by purchasing items with the ‘Fair Trade’ stamp, we are ensuring that farmers (often in third world) that produce these crops are being paid a fair wage for their produce, instead of being undercut to serve greedy supermarkets and their ever-increasing need to stay competitive price-wise. Thus, social awareness is further bleeding into our everyday lives at a rapid pace.

The latest ‘Food for thought’ (so to speak) are ‘Food Miles’, which is the distance that food travels from the time of production to the time of consumption. The message here relates to environmental best-practise. Governments are being put under pressure by environmental agencies (amongst other bodies) to try and reduce the quantity of food that is imported from around the world, by pushing the consumer to try to eat food that is grown seasonally and locally to their particular location in the world, therefore reducing the need to import food from far-away destinations. The vision, long term, is that in doing so we could massively reduce fuel emissions which ultimately have a devastating impact on our environment and ozone layer. The message here is not unfamiliar and is pretty straight-forward…. Our consumer-driven lives have resulted in neglecting to take care of our planet and our children will ultimately have to pay the price for the mindless and greed-driven decisions we have made in the last 100 years.

But (for example) if we start to eat food produced locally and prevent food from being flown in from around the world, then surely farmers in third-world countries will suffer, right? So what on earth are we supposed to do? On one hand, we are saving the planet but on the other hand we are once again provoking the downfall of newly repaired communities in the third world and single-handedly driving the demise of recently implemented infrastructure. Sadly the only people that suffer, as usual, are the people who have very little to lose in the first place, the people who depend entirely on what little trade our countries do with them. So what is the right thing for us to do? The truth is, I just don’t know. I wish I had the answers to these questions and so many more. The one thing I’m hoping to do is to help some of you understand a little more about the decisions you make and the impact they have on the world. I, for one, didn’t really understand a lot of the aforementioned issues properly until a few years ago and they have certainly had an impact on my decision making when it comes to buying food and produce.

So is this how things are going to be for the foreseeable future? Without a shadow of a doubt, I can say that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Not only is the food in our supermarkets controversial in farming terms and environmental terms, it also costs us more money than ever before but more importantly, it’s costing us our health and very often our lives. There is a global demand for “Bigger, Better, Faster, Cheaper” food. Food packed with additives, preservatives, sugar, salt, fat, nitrates and also kinds of nasties that are killing us and our children.

Although it’s easy to blame the supermarkets, you need to understand that the number one rule of thumb in trade is “Supply-and-demand”. If we didn’t demand it, they wouldn’t make money supplying it! It is WE the consumer that are demanding and detrimentally accepting these foods. So how on earth do we have the right to question the rapidly increasing rate of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in world? What we put in out mouths is affecting our health, costing our governments (and ultimately we the taxpayer) billions in medical costs which are burning a whole in the global economy… and for what? All because we are too lazy to cook, so we opt for the easy choice. Fast food? Convenience food? Ready meals? Shame on us.

I’m not trying to influence anyone into changing their entire way of eating. Not all of us can afford to spend a little more to get the best of everything and therefore economy food has its place in our culture and inevitably will always do so, unless our governments place an all out ban on processed foods. But perhaps we could at least try to avoid blatantly unhealthy junk foods at the very least, because we know that it’s bad for us. If what we describe as ‘normal’ food, such as eggs, poultry, fruit and vegetables are now under question, why on earth are we eating processed trash foods that we 100% aware are contributing to our untimely demise? Stupidity, irresponsibility and a lack of knowledge, these are the only possible reasons for making poorly-informed decisions on our purchases.

I believe we need to take small steps in order to change ourselves and our habits. If enough of us start to make small changes that we could uphold long term, just imagine the impact it would have on the world? One of my new year’s resolutions was to cut out junk food entirely. This may sound harsh, but it’s not as bad as you would think. I have vowed to cut out the obvious offenders like McDonalds, Burger King, KFC etc. But the fact is that I adore burgers! But you know what? I make burgers that are ten times better (and sometimes even a little bigger) than McDonalds and the other usual suspects, but at least I know exactly what goes into them and hands down they contain less fat, are lower in calories, are better for you and are much tastier than their fast food counterparts.

Nothing will make me stop eating the food I love, but I will not consent to eating food ‘Unconsciously’ any longer. Food that contains ingredients that I can’t spell or even begin to understand the purpose or effect of. All I know is nothing can substitute the benefits of simplicity. For me, a burger should contain 2 basic ingredients… ground beef and onion. Adding salt, pepper and a little egg is completely up to the individual. Perhaps when you next visit your local fast food burger joint (or even the freezers of your local supermarket) why not count the number of ingredients listed in your burger patty? If they contain more ingredients than you can count on one hand, then I think you should be extremely concerned.

Whether you sat up and took note of what I had to say or if “Ignorance is bliss” for you… Either way, I wish you well. The only thing I can tell you is the more of us that start to question what we eat, make better choices and demand better practises, the easier it will be to force supermarkets to sell produce that won’t damage our health, economy or environment. We were given a voice so it could be heard. We were given a mind so we could think for ourselves and question things that come our way. Silence and ignorance is not the way to a better life. Stand up and be counted…. Enjoyment comes with responsibility. Don’t shrug your social responsibility, you owe it to yourself to be aware and conscious about the things you choose to purchase and consume. Let us start small, but let us start now. We only have this life in which to make a difference, so we should do the best we can before it’s too late.