Why are we all talking about chocolate and ignoring fruit and vegetables, asks Tim Lang


Does it matter if Cadbury is bought by Kraft? Bankers make millions either way. It's a sign of the success of brands that public hearts and minds are engaged over sugary fatty sweets rather than more important foods such as fruit and vegetables.

I know food is not just about nutrition but pleasure. Troops wanted their Mars bars in the Second World War. But Cadbury's appeal goes back to its mid 19th century promise to produce unadulterated chocolate. So routinely were cocoa and chocolate adulterated that it took the strict Quaker morals to put business probity and high quality standards above quick profits. That's how they won sales and trust.

Today, there is surely something awry if there is more discussion about sweet manufacturer M&As than of whether the UK produces the foods that matter. Less than 10% of fruit is UK-grown. Of course, more concentration in global food companies is not welcome, so for that reason alone, I hope Kraft fails.

That business dimension of food politics was missing from Defra's much heralded Food 2030 strategy. This built on the Cabinet Office's 2008 Food Matters report, which stated that the UK and all rich societies could not pretend their food systems were efficient.

Food is carbon-intensive and a factor in causing ill health. This was the subject of Food 2030's long consultation. It distilled lofty ideas into six goals: healthy, sustainable diets; a resilient, profitable and competitive food system; sustainable food production; greenhouse gas reduction; waste reduction; skills, knowledge, research and technology.

The commitment to sustainable diets particularly delighted me as I was lead commissioner on the Sustainable Development Commission's Setting the Table report last year. And the strong language about skills, research and technology are fine, too.

Now let's get real. The opposition parties were sceptical of Food 2030, but from discussions I deduce they would end up with something similar. Any government must realise the slow decline in UK food production is risky. A collapsing pound highlights the huge food import bill. OK we cannot grow mangoes but apples and pears? We need to talk about delivery and priorities. Where's the money going to come from? Where's the agricultural labour force? Would you go picking sprouts in this weather?

Tim Lang is professor of food policy at City University.

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