A PREVIOUS Gazette & Herald letter was headed “Food for Thought”. The origin of this phrase has been hard to find, but may come from the Babylonian “intellectual nourishment”.

My thoughts turned to food. At present, one billion people in the world go to bed hungry. How many is this going to be when the population increases from the present seven billion to the predicted nine billion. We are told the solution is more intensive food production, more agribusiness and GM crops.

These solutions are peddled by the transnationals, the World Trade Organisation and the financial brigade. Those making obscene incomes from small farmers, the poor and anyone else who cannot stand up to the bully boys of the “market”. They, of course, are advocating more of the same.

 

• One third of world food production is wasted – sufficient to feed the billion who are hungry and leave enough for a billion more; l The UK is the largest waster of food in Europe. Half is wasted in the home. UN figures show a quarter of UK people are obese; l The number using food banks in the UK is rocketing.

The last time the UK had a financial and food crisis was during the Second World War. Rationing was introduced, driven by a shortage of food and a desire to stop price inflation; thus protecting poorer households. As a result everyone ate. Health improvements were a bonus – birth weights increased, infant mortality improved and there was less obesity.

The present crises of obesity and food banks need a strong government approach. Food banks are not increasing because of a shortage of food, they are increasing because of a lack of money. This, in turn, is intensified by low wages and benefit cuts.

Obesity is caused by a whole raft of reasons. However, the largest cause is sugar. Rationing would be a bureaucratic nightmare and very costly for taxpayers. The solution is a 20 per cent tax on sugar. There would be a number of benefits. According to the British Medical Journal, this would cause less heart disease and diabetes plus a reduction of obesity. There would be two gains for austerity Britain – the income from the sugar tax and a reduced health bill.

A way of reducing the food waste would be to stop BOGOFF by supermarkets. Their argument is that it enables people to have cheaper food. This could be achieved by half-price offers. The supermarkets would take less money and would be seen to have the waste problem. People buying food to then throw it away is good for the supermarket, but not for households. For households with children the average cost of domestic food waste is £680 per year.

Will the Government be prepared to hit the profits of the big corporations? Will the Government be prepared to benefit the health of the nation and the pockets of poorer people? Whatever the answers, it’s “Thought for Food”.