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You are what you buy to eat

Nowadays very few of us are involved in growing our own food or raising animals.

GM or organic, fresh or frozen, farmers market or supermarket?
Credit: Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

Nonetheless, many people are increasingly worried about the safety and healthiness of the food they eat

Consequently we have no direct control over the production of our food. Nonetheless, many people are increasingly worried about the safety and healthiness of the food they eat. UK farming seems to reel from crisis to crisis. The food system – from seeds, through the farming process, to supermarkets and on to people’s plates – has become a matter of controversy. Like many other institutions and industries, the food industry is gradually losing our trust.

Issues such as BSE, foot and mouth, genetic modification, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy,

Health and hygiene issues such as BSE and Foot and Mouth have had a massive impact on UK farming over recent years.

food mountains, food safety, the purchasing policies of supermarkets and famines have been at the top of the news agenda in recent years. Large-scale ‘industrial’ farming is the norm and the focus of this agribusiness (and the supermarkets) is on driving down direct costs. In opposition to this trend, farmers’ markets are springing up all over Britain. In these markets local small-scale food producers sell directly to consumers who are happy to pay more to obtain food they can trust, knowing that the profits are going to the original producer.

A shock to the system

Modern electricity supply is a complex and large system. Power failures are usually a result of problems with the electric grid than rather than power generation. We can buy energy-efficient lights, but the changes we can make are small because of the system. Unless we move to small-scale technologies, it will be impossible for us as individuals to make decisions about energy generation and use. > more

Waste not want not

Waste is increasing all the time, but as a country we are not good at recycling it. Aluminium cans are converted into window frames hundreds of miles away and then sold back in this country. The system for efficient recycling is currently lacking but, until the government creates one, the waste will continue to pile up. > more


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