Politics of food

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Politics of food nutrition

• changes in food chain regarding production
  distribution who has the most power to influence
  the consumer?

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enable you to understand

• Key changes in different links of food chain
• Changes in agriculture impact on rural economy
• Power of the big retailers
• New role for manufacturers
• What this means for health issues related to food
  nutrition
• Some policy options for interventions in the
  different sectors

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Short class exercise 5 minutes

• Why are some food industries threatening our
  health?
• How? list tactics that some food industries may
  use to undermine health.

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Examples of tactics used

• deny that there is an issue
• refusal to accept evidence (or hide it)
• employ scientists or fund research to cast doubt
• personalized attacks on public health experts
  e.g. Marion Nestle
• develop political alliances e.g. EU parliament
• appeals to Government to consider the economic
  consequences
• advertising drowns health messages
• develop niche products that offer choice

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Some key issues

• who controls who gets what food what they have
  to pay?
• the role of food production, retail,
  manufacturers consumers
• critical for health, economy countryside (rural
  development) - in all countries
• do consumers need protection?

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Traditional vs modern food systems
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The Era of Food Wars(Tim Lang)
Food Wars
Productionist paradigm
1800s 1900s 1950
2000 2050
LEGEND Key Battlegrounds in the Food
Wars. These include Diet, health and disease
prevention What sort of food business Environme
ntal crisis Competing visions and
ideologies Capturing the consumer Controlling
food supply
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Goals for food nutrition?

• To produce food in ways which protect and
  enhance the environment, public health, consumer
  rights confidence, social justice
• (Tim Lang)
• Growing, buying eating the right kinds of
  foods can reduce the risk of disease
  simultaneously promote a sustainable environment
• (WHO)

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Food nutrition policy in practice
power (who makes things happen and why)
process (how things happen)
content (what happens - policy activities)
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Functions in the food chain are changing
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Farmer/agricultureSubsidies e.g Common
Agriculture Policy (CAP)(40 bn Euros/yr in EU
where total is 80 bn)
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CAP (see documentaries World of its own
Nailed to the bottom)
Common agriculture policy (CAP) budget
Dietary targets WHO/FAO TSR 916
Source European Commission, Directorate-General
for Agriculture
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A World of its own (also danish version)
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Documentary Nailed to the bottom
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www.fhi.se/english/eng_reports.asp
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CAP working against public health

• Destruction of FV - 117 million EUR/year
• Aided consumption of milk fat
• - 460 million EUR/year
• Aided consumption of high-fat milk to
  schoolchildren
• Promotion of high-fat milk products wine - 10
  million EUR/year
• Butter sold 30 reduced price to industry

Source Schäfer Elinder L., Public Health Aspects
of EU CAP, 2003
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Destruction
Source Vasilis Theodorou
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Fruit Veg destruction
2000/2001 approx. 1 million tonnes FV
withdrawn or destroyed Most was composted
(distilled or fed to animals) 3300 g/person/yr
40 portions FV each person in EU (Small
amount to humans via free fruit in schools
schemes)
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Production consumption of fruit in UK
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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School milk subsidised by CAP

• a measure to help expand the market for milk
  products and surplus disposal mechanism.
  Skimmed milk other low-fat products are
  entitled to support however.
• child drinks 0.25 litres of full-fat milk (3.5
  fat) every school day will consume 1.5kg more fat
  per year than a pupil who drinks skimmed milk
  (0.5)
• 1.5 kg excess body wt

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Recommended changes to CAP to support public
health

• Phase out consumption aid to dairy products with
  high fat content
• Limit School Milk Measure to include only milk
  products with low fat content
• Introduce a similar school measure for FV
• Redistribute support so that FV sector is
  favoured

Source Schäfer Elinder L., Public Health Aspects
of EU CAP, 2003
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EUROHEALTH (2004) Integrating public health
with EU agriculture policy www.lse.ac.uk/collecti
ons/LSEHealthAndSocialCare/pdf/eurohealth/vol10No1
.pdf

• is intensive agriculture part of the problem?
• pesticide nitrates - harmful to humans?
• links with rural employment/development mental
  health
• suppose we all ate a healthy diet?
• environmental issues - esp. bio-diversity

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Environmental sustainability and intensive
agriculture
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Polyunsaturated fatty acids as a proportion of
total fatty acids from various sources
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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BSE - causes

• cannibalism?
• modern agriculture?
• the waste-nothing policy?
• animal feed?
• unnatural agriculture?
• deregulation and cost-cutting?

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Agriculture - summary

• can agriculture survive in Europe without
  subsidies?
• what about Free Trade the WTO?
• health could be a reason for making exceptions
• but claims of health are suspected, as being
  protectionist
• strength of evidence is key battleground
• might be easier to defend in WTO, where subsidies
  are seen as barriers to free trade

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Retailer
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State of the art retail power indicators
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Retail power indicators
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The Powerful Retailers mission statements

• Wal-Mart - 6000 stores in 10 countries
  lower the cost of living around the world
• Carrefour 10,000 stores in 20 countries
  worlds most global retailer best adapted to
  local consumption
• Royal Ahold 5000 stores in EU, USA, Latin
  America Asia the best 6 most successful food
  provider in the world
• McDonalds 30,000 in 130 countries
• Metro (wholesalers) 500 in 26 countries

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Retailers have the power to control our food
supply

• Tesco, Ahold, Carrefour, Metro are buying
  increasing volumes of FV, meat dairy in LDCs
  their standards are driving small farmers out
  (ActionAid Report at World Social Forum on
  developing country issues 2004)

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Food sales controlled by top 5 companies in
different countries
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Retail top 3 positions in EU
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Worlds largest retailers to become a brand
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• Supermarket, co-op local shop share of the UK
  grocery market, 1950-90

Source Off our Trolleys? IPPR, 1995
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Increase in number of supermarkets in 1995
compared with 1991 in central Europe (Euromonitor
1997)
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Own Brand policy supplier has to comply or die!
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Supermarketsown brand new segmentation
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The balance of power

• The supply chain is under the control of branded
  supermarket chains

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The supply chain funnel in Europe
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Summary of retail power

• Global sourcing will increase,
• but that could mean new chances for local
  agriculture
• Mature markets move from cutting costs to
  quality, services reputation
• There is an increasing market for supermarket
  own brands (50 in UK)
• Manufacturers will meet difficulties with Global
  branding - local relevancy is needed e.g.
  branding in fresh
• And.....

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Decline in choice for consumers?

• 60,000 shops close every decade in UK
• 1961 97 120,000 20,000 independent grocers
• Much larger hyper-stores
• Decline of bus services

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Manufacturers advertising
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Loss of vitamins increase in fat as potatoes
are processed
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Leading US brand advertising 2001
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UK Advertising (2000) .i

• 600 million on food
• 300 million on drink
• 17,000 million total advertising
• i Advertising Association (2001) Student
  Briefing No. 6 London Advertising Association

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Marketing in UK 2000 (,000)
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Balance of power has shifted retailers are
increasing their relative strength vs brand
manufacturers
Ph morris, unilever, nestle, PG, BAT
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Child Mum, I have an exam today. I should take a
bigger sandwich with me to school. Mum Before
an exam it would be the best to eat a piece of
chocolate, not a sandwich. Sweets will help you
to handle the difficult exercises. You should
eat the piece of chocolate before and not after a
sandwich
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Consumer power

• do citizens have any power??
• Poverty
• Education skills
• NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations)

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Influences on food choices
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Population in W Europe with income lt 14.40/day
Sources Source Food Health in Europe a new
basis for action
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Households in relative poverty among unemployed
agricultural workers in EU (1996)
Source Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Population in CCEE NIS with income lt US
4.30/day
Sources Food Health in Europe a new basis for
action
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Policy confusion education, information skills

• Advertising brand names vs. health education
• Informed consumers
• Life skills cooking food preparation

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The time for food preparation at home
Source Professor D Hughes, Imperial College
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Food skills UK Q. What do you think is a
cookery skill?

• sandwiches 36
• making toast 31
• opening cereal boxes 20
• cooking chips 11
• cake mixes from a packet 9
• cooking eggs 9
• cooking a pizza 7
• source Good Food Foundation (1998)

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Growth in out-of-home retail outlets in EU of
sales through these outlets
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Frequency mode transport to shop
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Travel longer distances to shop

• 95 at shopping centres arrive by car
• Out-of-town sales increased by 6.4 in 2000
• BUT in poorest households, more than half have no
  car
• 7 million UK households have no car

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Food miles (UK)

• travel by car more than doubled in last 2 decades
  
• distance travelled for shopping in general rose
  by 60
• distance total food travelled up by 60

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Social Costs

• Time on shopping has risen, 1960s-90s
• Forced to make dedicated trips
• More cars - streets not safe for children to play
  outside
• Childrens games are static (play station
  simulation not playing outside)

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NGOs

• Panorama documentary on sugar
• McLibel documentary

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• McDonalds 30,000 in 130 countries
• in 10 countries McD had to close (2003)
  anti-globalisation
• McLibel www.mcspotlight.org spannerfilms
• Large companies become vulnerable if products are
  linked with exploitation of workers animal
  welfare environment

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Nestlé Boycott (www.babymilkaction.org)
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Policy Options for Health

• Expend food, not fossil fuel, energy
• Re-localisation of shops
• Children taught to cook
• Prepared to pay cost of healthy food
• Build exercise into daily life

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Conclusion power battles in coming years

• Production driven agriculture will give way to
  Demand driven - ?global sourcing subsidy e.g.
  CAP
• Battle for consumer mindset BIG retailers will
  become strong brands dictate the supply chain
  (secret price agreements with suppliers)
• food service will adapt their retail policy -
  Between out-of-home and eating at home
• Global brands develop new strategies to survive
• Optimal supermarket format? Price vs services
  RFID (radio frequency identification)
• Power in the food chain supermarkets vs
  manufacturers
• Free trade concept wants a global market
  economy but markets are NOT transparent