Brace, brace! Duck for cover! If you thought the furore over traffic lights and sat fats was bad, it will look like the proverbial picnic if the latest intimations on the environment come to pass.
As we report in this special 'Green' issue, the industry has been working diligently, committedly and with astonishing speed and effect to reduce plastic bag consumption, cut packaging and reduce carbon emissions. The seriousness of the environmental threat has been embraced not just by two-bit eco-brands, but by fmcg giants, major multiples, of course, and wholesalers.
Inevitably, some of this action has PR value and has been taken so as to avoid being caught on the back foot with punitive legislation. There are also plenty of compelling commercial reasons for reducing packaging and other costs.
But there is a great deal of conviction and integrity, in the efforts of executives and workers alike, to do the right thing for today's consumers and tomorrow's because as well as being customers, they are their own flesh and blood.
That's why Defra's hostile attitude to the food industry, in the battle over sustainability and climate change, so rankles. Over the past year, no matter how fast the industry has acted, government agencies have always been one step ahead with taxes, fines, penalties, and now, surely, legislation as if soaring population growth in developing countries were the fault of the food industry.
What an almighty muddle. The government believes health and sustainability are interconnected, with red meat and dairy as the hook. Which is bizarre, because some of the healthiest fruit, veg, pulses and beans are shipped thousands of miles. So forget arguments about balanced diet. The new debate about health will be framed around the health of the planet. And instead of traffic light labelling, expect gridlock.
As we report in this special 'Green' issue, the industry has been working diligently, committedly and with astonishing speed and effect to reduce plastic bag consumption, cut packaging and reduce carbon emissions. The seriousness of the environmental threat has been embraced not just by two-bit eco-brands, but by fmcg giants, major multiples, of course, and wholesalers.
Inevitably, some of this action has PR value and has been taken so as to avoid being caught on the back foot with punitive legislation. There are also plenty of compelling commercial reasons for reducing packaging and other costs.
But there is a great deal of conviction and integrity, in the efforts of executives and workers alike, to do the right thing for today's consumers and tomorrow's because as well as being customers, they are their own flesh and blood.
That's why Defra's hostile attitude to the food industry, in the battle over sustainability and climate change, so rankles. Over the past year, no matter how fast the industry has acted, government agencies have always been one step ahead with taxes, fines, penalties, and now, surely, legislation as if soaring population growth in developing countries were the fault of the food industry.
What an almighty muddle. The government believes health and sustainability are interconnected, with red meat and dairy as the hook. Which is bizarre, because some of the healthiest fruit, veg, pulses and beans are shipped thousands of miles. So forget arguments about balanced diet. The new debate about health will be framed around the health of the planet. And instead of traffic light labelling, expect gridlock.
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