Food culture in the developed world is dysfunctional. We expect greater choice when we go food shopping, but are often unwilling to acknowledge the wider implications of this abundance.

The food industry says that consumers demand choice, but this is a chicken-and-egg situation. It’s no longer clear which came first – supply or demand. What is certain is that the food industry prioritises cost and convenience above nutrition.

The global food economy is riddled with contradictions that consumers find difficult to reconcile. Half the world is struggling against starvation while the other half suffers from the diseases of mass affluence – obesity and anorexia.

This collection of essays points towards a more mature food culture which ‘closes the loop’ between individual consumer choices and their collective impact. Clearly, the connection between food and well-being deserves to be reemphasised.

Governments must be more open about what they know – and don’t know. The food industry must stop relying on intensive production methods to increase profitability. And the environmental lobby should recognise mass food production as a legitimate industry.

Only then will the phrase ‘we are what we eat’ once again start to sound like a promise not a threat.

Editors
John Holden is head of development at Demos; Lydia Howland and Daniel Stedman Jones are researchers.

Read the introduction