Our food future

It’s an old saying that if you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. As pressures on the food system increase, has the time come to give consumers the knowledge they need to make informed choices about the food they buy and eat?

There could be more than 9 billion people in the world by 2050. Demand for food will increase by 60%. Climate change and rising income in developing countries will alter the global picture. New technology and sources of food will change what’s available. Complex pressures on supply chains will bring challenges – traceability, volatile prices and even crime.
These are just a few of the issues that have scientists, policymakers and industry looking at how we will feed ourselves in the future. Meanwhile, many people today feel that they have lost their connection to the food system and want to make more informed choices, whether buying sustainable fish or choosing seasonal food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xKhHmWpAw4
The Food Standards Agency, working alongside partners, such as Which?, the Wellcome Trust, Global Food Security Programme, Defra, Food Standards Scotland and ScienceWise, spent the latter part of last year conducting a public dialogue to find out what people think, feel and want to know.
Among the worries articulated were:
• by losing connection with our food, we would lose connection with our communities, family life and a part of our identity
• modern lifestyles, marketing practices and human nature would lead us to choose cheaper, processed foods leaving the food we consider to be healthy to feel like a luxury
• people aren’t aware of where food comes from and of the wider impact of our choices.
Consumers also said that they wanted information and the ability to choose, and that the opportunity was there for Government to help them and for the food industry to gain their trust.
Last month, almost 150 experts from across the food industry, science and research gathered in London to develop a shared understanding of the impact medium-term changes in the global food system could have on the UK consumer. As well as those who attended the event, more than 6,000 people from across the world watched the proceedings via a live webcast and for several hours in the morning. To find out more about the event and to watch videos of the presentations, visit: www.food.gov.uk/foodfuture. To view the report itself, click here.