“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their boddies will soon be in as a sorry state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny”
Thomas Jefferson
Food democracy is consumers having access to an unprecedented range of safe food, all year round and at all price points, regardless of where they live. Through economies of scale, innovation and investment, food retailing has helped to deliver a level of food democracy in the UK unimagined before the Second World War. Foods once considered delicacies, the exclusive preserve of the well-off, such as canned tomatoes, are now accessible to all.
The modern British food economy has been highly successful in delivering the increased food choices that have reflected the changes in demographics and in the incomes and lifestyles of the population.
The image of the well-fed English yeoman was a myth. There never was a British Arcadia the majority of rural dwellers were subsistence farmers who knew hunger a lot better than they knew a joint of roast beef. In Britain's pre-industrial subsistence economy of 1700, more than 61% of the male labour force worked in farming where access to common land was often a necessary pre-requisite for access to food.
As industrialisation took hold, food choices, though still poor, were often better for those employed to work on the land. Urban workers found it difficult to obtain good food at fair prices. Until 1846 the Corn Laws kept the price of bread high and industrial workers and their families often had no option but to buy from shopkeepers who used their local monopolies to ratchet-up prices or adulterate foods. In some cases, workers were paid part of their wages in tokens, which could only be exchanged in the factory's own food shop.
It was this state of affairs that led to the Rochdale Pioneers' opening their first shop in Toad Lane in 1844; the foundation of an effective co-operative movement; the death of food-feudalism and the beginnings of our food democracy. Indeed the 1840s saw the rapid expansion of fixed-shop food retailing and the development of multiple retailing. Improved transport links and food processing technology led to product standardisation and cost reductions, themselves facilitating large-scale distribution. No longer were consumers forced to buy foods of dubious quality from local monopolies. Animals were no longer moved along the old drove roads to slaughter in the great urban centres. International trade provided the Victorians with more affordable choices: bacon, ham and butter from Denmark and canned salmon from California. The factory worker was able to buy good food more cheaply.
During the second half of the 19th century living standards rose and consumers moved away from direct purchasing from farmers. The 1880s saw the food retail sector experience the multiple revolution' with the expansion of companies such as Lipton, Home and Colonial, and Sainsbury. The late 1800s also saw a rapid growth of Co-operatives, with sales doubling to more than £100m between 1880 and 1915.
Food retailing remained of critical importance to the British economy between the wars when more than one-third of national income was spent on food, and real gains in living standards could only be made by reducing this proportion. Reliance on the food distribution system increased during the rationing of the 1940s and 1950s.
In May 1962 The Grocer described self-service as having changed the pattern of distribution more than any other single factor in the field of food retailing'.
I would argue that the self-service concept marked the death of nanny retailing and the effective transition from a passive food democracy to the participative food democracy we enjoy today, in which customers exercise choice.
Unfortunately there are those who would wish to introduce the modern day equivalent of the Soviet Decree on Food Dictatorship by encouraging collusion and restricting choice. Any such backwards step holds huge dangers to our economy and people's quality of life.
Food retailers believe that the interests of consumers are best protected within a competitive food chain, where those involved compete at every level of the chain on service, quality of product and value for money that they offer. This is true food democracy, where the ultimate guarantor of choice and competition is the consumer's spending power.
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Thomas Jefferson
Food democracy is consumers having access to an unprecedented range of safe food, all year round and at all price points, regardless of where they live. Through economies of scale, innovation and investment, food retailing has helped to deliver a level of food democracy in the UK unimagined before the Second World War. Foods once considered delicacies, the exclusive preserve of the well-off, such as canned tomatoes, are now accessible to all.
The modern British food economy has been highly successful in delivering the increased food choices that have reflected the changes in demographics and in the incomes and lifestyles of the population.
The image of the well-fed English yeoman was a myth. There never was a British Arcadia the majority of rural dwellers were subsistence farmers who knew hunger a lot better than they knew a joint of roast beef. In Britain's pre-industrial subsistence economy of 1700, more than 61% of the male labour force worked in farming where access to common land was often a necessary pre-requisite for access to food.
As industrialisation took hold, food choices, though still poor, were often better for those employed to work on the land. Urban workers found it difficult to obtain good food at fair prices. Until 1846 the Corn Laws kept the price of bread high and industrial workers and their families often had no option but to buy from shopkeepers who used their local monopolies to ratchet-up prices or adulterate foods. In some cases, workers were paid part of their wages in tokens, which could only be exchanged in the factory's own food shop.
It was this state of affairs that led to the Rochdale Pioneers' opening their first shop in Toad Lane in 1844; the foundation of an effective co-operative movement; the death of food-feudalism and the beginnings of our food democracy. Indeed the 1840s saw the rapid expansion of fixed-shop food retailing and the development of multiple retailing. Improved transport links and food processing technology led to product standardisation and cost reductions, themselves facilitating large-scale distribution. No longer were consumers forced to buy foods of dubious quality from local monopolies. Animals were no longer moved along the old drove roads to slaughter in the great urban centres. International trade provided the Victorians with more affordable choices: bacon, ham and butter from Denmark and canned salmon from California. The factory worker was able to buy good food more cheaply.
During the second half of the 19th century living standards rose and consumers moved away from direct purchasing from farmers. The 1880s saw the food retail sector experience the multiple revolution' with the expansion of companies such as Lipton, Home and Colonial, and Sainsbury. The late 1800s also saw a rapid growth of Co-operatives, with sales doubling to more than £100m between 1880 and 1915.
Food retailing remained of critical importance to the British economy between the wars when more than one-third of national income was spent on food, and real gains in living standards could only be made by reducing this proportion. Reliance on the food distribution system increased during the rationing of the 1940s and 1950s.
In May 1962 The Grocer described self-service as having changed the pattern of distribution more than any other single factor in the field of food retailing'.
I would argue that the self-service concept marked the death of nanny retailing and the effective transition from a passive food democracy to the participative food democracy we enjoy today, in which customers exercise choice.
Unfortunately there are those who would wish to introduce the modern day equivalent of the Soviet Decree on Food Dictatorship by encouraging collusion and restricting choice. Any such backwards step holds huge dangers to our economy and people's quality of life.
Food retailers believe that the interests of consumers are best protected within a competitive food chain, where those involved compete at every level of the chain on service, quality of product and value for money that they offer. This is true food democracy, where the ultimate guarantor of choice and competition is the consumer's spending power.
{{COMMENT - GUEST }}
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