Vicki Hird on

PERFECTLY SAFE TO EAT?

Food is a hot political issue. This is not a new phenomenon - food has fed the fire of political, trade and military heat for hundreds of years. Now however, we are all becoming increasingly made aware of food as a major social problem - be it as a carrier of germs, toxic chemicals or unknown genes, or as a commodity to start trade wars (like bananas, or hormone treated beef). It has also been an indicator of both social and environmental decline as people abandon rural areas and the countryside is degraded to produce food as cheaply as possible.

Despite the obvious fact that a good food system is vital for our health, economy and environment, its production has become profoundly cheapened. The resulting lower price we pay in the shop is more than outweighed by the huge costs we pay in terms of damaged public and environmental health. It also seems that the regulation of food has often been abysmally managed. But why has all this happened and why is it so prominent now? Such questions led me to write this book - not so much about what is bad about each food item, where we can find 'good' produce and so on - but more about the politics behind our food. Who does what in the food chain, why the problems came about and what can be learnt?

To answer some of these questions I looked closely at some of the recent UK food scandals such as the infamous salmonella scares in the 1980s, through the mad cow disaster of the 90s to the current and highly charged debate on genetic engineering. I examined the key players in the food chain - how the growers and farmers, retailers, processors and caterers provide the food we eat and what the UK Government and all its regulatory agencies do to protect us. I then scrutinised the situation beyond our shores where food is increasingly being traded and controlled at an European and international level with corporations and institutions setting the rules.

There is little doubt that the consumer has been let down and may continue to be let down by these players - food additives, pesticides, genetically engineered foods and overuse of anti-biotics are just a few of the issues which reveal this stark reality. It is also clear that the farmer too has been badly served by unsuitable, poorly designed farm policy. Many farmers and rural communities are suffering the consequences and so too is the countryside, our wildlife and farm animals.

The public have not been blameless in all this change. Lifestyle changes, the rush to buy ready made meals and the demand for ever cheaper meat in particular have all exacerbated the problems. Yet the major retailers and processors are extremely adept at convincing us that a mass produced, heavily processed, over-packaged and expensively advertised product is better value than the healthy, raw ingredients which could be combined far more cheaply to make the same dish. This food fraud has been subtle and successful.

But the food story is not all doom and gloom - there is much to celebrate with many new, healthy and more equitable ways for food to be produced and provided to consumers. The final chapters of the book give pointers on what to buy, how to buy it and where to go for more information and political action. So Perfectly safe to eat? The facts on food, is there to provide information about the politics behind the food we buy and to reveal the opportunities we have to influence changes for the better using that knowledge and our purchasing power.