Food and Our Distorted Connection to Nature
2010
Food and Our Distorted Connection to Nature
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In July 2009, as part of the Radical Nature exhibition in the Barbican, London, Sheila Dillon, presenter of the Radio 4 Food Programme, chaired a discussion titled Who Has the Right to Tell us What to Eat? She claimed within her introduction that for many people who lived in the urban environment, food was their closest connection to nature and that ‘if you understand what is on people’s plates you will be a long way to understanding the way the world is.’
The discussion revealed a series of shocking and alarming facts about western eating habits; global agricultural practices and our ‘contorted connection’ to nature.
Speaker Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, informed the audience that the public have “lost contact with the reality of where food comes from”. He stated that the plastic industry is now inextricably linked to food. “It has taken 50 years to get the British to think that salad comes wrapped in cellophane.”
With the UK being a highly urbanised society, Lang claimed that presently only 0.5% of the population have access to land and that by 2030 land access will be the No.1 concern for the world. Issues of climate change, carbon footprint and water harvesting will impact on agricultural practices; “we will have to farm differently and use the land differently”. He went on to say that a ‘land grab’ is already underway and gave an example of companies buying up “half of” Madagascar to deal with the squeeze on land.
The separation from society and the land has led to a distorted connection with nature and has developed a ‘peculiar’ food culture. The link to the western diet of cheap, fast food with disease and obesity was also discussed within the event.
Water was highlighted as another major factor determining the production of food and use of land. The talk pointed out that The Netherlands, a country famous for its agricultural systems, is running out of water and its systems are currently being relocated to Morocco.
The power of supermarkets was also discussed within the event. Dillon mentioned the story of a farmer who bought a pound of onions from a supermarket. It worked out that the onions cost £800 per tonne whereas he would only get paid £100 per tonne.
This talk is available at the following link.
Who Has the Right to Tell us What to Eat?
>>>>
In July 2009, as part of the Radical Nature exhibition in the Barbican, London, Sheila Dillon, presenter of the Radio 4 Food Programme, chaired a discussion titled Who Has the Right to Tell us What to Eat? She claimed within her introduction that for many people who lived in the urban environment, food was their closest connection to nature and that ‘if you understand what is on people’s plates you will be a long way to understanding the way the world is.’
The discussion revealed a series of shocking and alarming facts about western eating habits; global agricultural practices and our ‘contorted connection’ to nature.
Speaker Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, informed the audience that the public have “lost contact with the reality of where food comes from”. He stated that the plastic industry is now inextricably linked to food. “It has taken 50 years to get the British to think that salad comes wrapped in cellophane.”
With the UK being a highly urbanised society, Lang claimed that presently only 0.5% of the population have access to land and that by 2030 land access will be the No.1 concern for the world. Issues of climate change, carbon footprint and water harvesting will impact on agricultural practices; “we will have to farm differently and use the land differently”. He went on to say that a ‘land grab’ is already underway and gave an example of companies buying up “half of” Madagascar to deal with the squeeze on land.
The separation from society and the land has led to a distorted connection with nature and has developed a ‘peculiar’ food culture. The link to the western diet of cheap, fast food with disease and obesity was also discussed within the event.
Water was highlighted as another major factor determining the production of food and use of land. The talk pointed out that The Netherlands, a country famous for its agricultural systems, is running out of water and its systems are currently being relocated to Morocco.
The power of supermarkets was also discussed within the event. Dillon mentioned the story of a farmer who bought a pound of onions from a supermarket. It worked out that the onions cost £800 per tonne whereas he would only get paid £100 per tonne.
This talk is available at the following link.
Who Has the Right to Tell us What to Eat?
