Panic on a Plate

While one might sympathise with the idea of fears about food have been blown out of all proportion and are being used to attempt to control people's eating habits, the overall argument of this book is somewhat perverse. The current food system is not fit for purpose for a number of reasons. Out of a total population of 6.9 billion, 1 billion are still severely undernourished, while at least 1.3 billion are overweight. This new situation gives rise to a new set of concerns, and the drivers of the food industry are in fact responsible for both imbalances. It is not true to say that things have never been this good, as the overall trajectory is that we have moved from diseases of undernutrition to diseases of civilisation which are taking a huge toll on human health. Despite what the author claims, the food industry is the main culprit, and it is simply disingenuous to explain nutritional concerns as a form of anti-capitalism. Equally perverse is the chapter on the 'wacky world of organic food' as a retreat from the modern world and the idea that junk food is a contradiction in terms. The author sees this in political terms, arguing that the division between junk food and real food is a reflection of middle-class angst and old-fashioned snobbery. The fact that white bread still outsells brown bread is a measure of ignorance, but then the author would dismiss me as exactly the kind of snob he excoriates, someone who eats 'a dreadful permutation of local, organic, minimally processed food.' This may be provocative, but it is also perverse.