Our latest title – Food: What are we really eating? is published this week amidst the usual onslaught of conflicting advice from governments, food agencies and experts about our eating habits. Yet the majority of us do not possess the basic facts to help us choose what to eat? How healthy, ethical and environmentally friendly are the food choices we make on a daily basis?
Food offers some answers at a time when Britain is simultaneously in the grip of a new food scare and facing an epidemic of obesity, and just before the annual season of gastronomic excess. Is organic food really better for our health, the environment? Are E-numbers always bad for us? Does buying Fairtrade benefit the growers, or only our conscience? What are food miles? Should we buy food locally or from the supermarket?
The food we eat has been described as ‘the most political choice we make on a daily basis’, and has a direct impact on our health and the environment. As we look forward to the season of over eating Pocket Issue asks where you stand on food? Do you think hard about your weekly shop, choosing local, organic or Fairtrade items? Or do you go for what’s filling and cheap? Take the plunge and register yourself as a PIG (Poor Ingredient Guzzler) or a SHEEP (Shopper with Healthy Environmentally Engaged Principles) in our poll opposite – and then read the book!
Glad you are tackling this messy subject – will read with interest. As a trained nutritionist, this will be a valuable guide to recommend to my clients, who are often very confused. My conclusion is that moderation in all things works well, and that every day is a chance to re-start the healthy eating campaign! Don’t give up!