Gordon’s Home Economics
You might have found it a little strange that Gordon Brown had to go all the way to Japan in order to lecture us on the amount of food we waste in Britain. The private contents of our dustbins would seem to be a domestic problem – something to discuss in hushed tones amongst ourselves. But nothing could be more appropriate. As Gordon rightly pointed out, the amount of food we waste in Britain (around a third) is linked to a global problem – one in which food systems are geared up to deliver ‘cheap’ food to some countries (including ours) at the expense of others. The findings have come from a government Strategy Unit report entitled Food Matters published yesterday – see below. They might also have come from Hungry City, since this is one of the central arguments in my book!
It seems that the governments of industrialised nations are finally waking up to the fact that the food problem is not about to go away. Food is at the top of the G8 agenda, where it should have been for decades. Thank goodness for that. At least we are starting to ask the right questions now – finding the right answers might prove a little more tricky, but at least it’s a start.
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