If people want to eat cake, let them

Monday April 26, 2010

Our ability to decide what and how much we want to eat is slowly being eroded, says Karen McTigue, and we are barely aware of it. What’s to be done?

We have lived through an era of dramatic change with regard to the food we consume. From the dreary black and white world of post-war meat and two veg to the veritable feast of brightly coloured, multi-ethnic food and drink we have access to now.

The first technicolour spam fritter merely pointed the way towards the box of delights we have now on every high street, alluring us to the golden arches, or the mexican fiesta-food, or the sushi/ bento/ sashimi bar.

Now, not only for those of us in the metropolis but up and down the country, nations of the world lay their wares before us. Truly we have never been so courted by providers of food. Our grandparents who used olive oil purely for medicinal benefit would be highly amused to see our rows of ‘artisan inspired’ oils for every conceivable occasion on our larder shelves. Not to mention the organic/ pure-breed spoon-fed meats we can devour with impunity, and still feel bountiful.

The speed with which international transportation can deliver us anything our hearts may desire means we are only ever restricted by the power of the pound in our pockets.

We will no longer accept a weak cup of instant coffee, we require a morning espresso, an afternoon latte, a late night mocha, skinny, low foam, etc etc. And yet, concurrently, we have never been under such pressure to conform, so confused by conflicting messages on what food is right, for us, for the planet, for our children’s health.

Daily we are bombarded with messages from the Department of Research Suggests, an abominable institution which holds such sway that column inches are ever-expanding to hold its words of wisdom. Here are just a few examples of the department’s edicts in the past few months:

(1) Women who drink wine are actually less likely to gain weight than those who are teetotal
(2) Five fruit and vegetables a day won’t keep cancer away
(3) A chocolate bar a day can cut the risk of heart disease and stroke

So, research in these instances would suggest that a diet of wine and chocolate (hold the fruit and veg) would be just about right.

The question we must ask surely is – is it the duty of the government to tell us what we should, or should not eat? The issue of obesity is an all-powerful weapon to be wielded as defence on this one. Television programmes are obsessed with less than perfect bodies and we delight in the vicarious pleasure to be had in viewing them.

The few celebrities who dare to remain outside the cult of the skinny must always be prepared to answer for their decision to do so. When was the last time you heard an interview with Dawn French or Beth Ditto where weight, and their ‘struggle’ with it, was not mentioned?

But are we actually more obese than ever? If so, presumably, because the obese among us are damaging their health (which the taxpayer will have to fund the treatment of) we need someone to blame. So who will it be? The individual, or the state? If we have now had years of government ‘education’ on healthy eating and we are getting worse rather than better, surely something drastically needs to change.

In Scotland Holyrood has had the novel idea of forcing restaurants to serve smaller portions. Presumably this wouldn’t actually involve a smaller price tag. How very Scottish. Shona Robinson, Scottish health minister, has been quoted as saying, “No country in the world has successfully addressed obesity and we want Scotland to be the first.”

Her plan is to request (initially, note, a request, rather than an order) chefs to reduce the calorific content of their food. However, a caveat further says that if they fail to make “sufficient progress” in doing so, legislation will follow.

Chefs in Scotland (yes, there really are a few) have not reacted well to this, as one might imagine. The frankly Orwellian strategy states that the governmental work within the industry “will include activity to standardise portion sizes in ready meals and restaurants”. The buy one get one free offer will never have been more popular.

Obesity aside, what do we mean by ‘freedom of choice’ when talking about food? Surely the basic tenet is that, presuming we can afford it, we should be able to put in our shopping basket, or ask our waiter to bring us, anything available. Why should we struggle with the ethics of buying a portion of non Fairtrade Kenyan beans, or a carton of non carbon-offsetting Spanish strawberries if we can’t wait for English ones to arrive?

Should we have to look at the healthy eating traffic light guidelines on every item that finds its way into our trolley – in case we didn’t realise that the box of dairy cream profiteroles may not be on a par with the pre-packed salad of sprouting beans – we have a government-approved handy colourful symbol to make us aware.

The decision-making of the individual in what they may, or may not eat, is slowly being eroded and we are barely aware of it. The myth that Britain has become a nation of Jamie Oliver-ite foodies is now held under a searching spotlight, for we are being taught that food is to be feared.

Too much salt, too much fat, carbs are bad, alcohol is bad. And, for goodness sake don’t even go near that soya bean – not that any sane person would, of course. All foodstuffs are potential killers, carcinogens, obesity-creators, destructors of the planet in some way, just like us.

Perhaps a question for your local electoral candidate on your doorstep should be: which of our future leaders are most likely to instruct the population to “Let them eat cake”?