Food safety prompts ‘Age of Anxiety’

A new study examines growing concerns over food security

A man stands in a maize field inspecting crops

The use of food crops such as maize for fuel has been controversial. Image credit Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Anxieties over food safety and security are not just personal pathologies, but also have ‘important social dimensions’.

This is what Professor Peter Jackson of the University of Sheffield is to argue in an upcoming public talk at Cardiff University’s Glamorgan Building. It is, he believes, a “major current issue” with implications for urbanisation, sustainability and climate change.

He contends that much needs to be done, including “changing our diets, eating seasonal food, growing our own fruit and vegetables and a host of other local initiatives.”

The talk follows a Consumer Culture in an Age of Anxiety (CONANX) study conducted by Jackson and his colleagues. Among other conclusions, they found that 51% of respondents believed that food is less safe now than 10 years ago.

The talk will be held on 26 November at 5.30pm.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQo0I4uZb7w[/youtube]

Professor Guy Poppy of the University of Southampton attempts to tackle the subject of food security

Excessive wastage is one of many food related issues facing consumers today. Image credit Alex Blake

Food security and safety is a growing concern among citizens and academics alike. Professor Jackson’s CONANX study, which explored consumer concerns over the future of food, found that 68% of citizens in the European Union hold anxieties about the quality and freshness of food, while 48% were concerned that food may damage their health.

Concerns over the global food industry abound, and not just in terms of food safety and security. In January 2013 the Institute of Mechanical Engineers published a report titled Waste Not, Want Not, which estimated that between 30% and 50% of food produced globally never reaches the dinner table. Similarly, a recent report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme found that the average UK household throws away the equivalent of six meals a week, with Britain as a whole wasting a total of £12.5bn a year.

Elsewhere, antibiotics have been regularly used in animal feed as a means to encourage growth and fight infections. However, there have been calls to curb this practice following concerns that it may encourage bacterial resistance, thereby potentially endangering food safety and human health.

Solutions themselves often pose problems. For instance, crops such as maize or sugar cane can be used as biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Yet this practice has been criticised by the House of Commons International Development Committee, which claimed that it endangers food security among third world populations by diverting the much needed crops from human consumption.

And with food safety and security becoming increasingly important problems for future generations to solve, Jackson argues that the UK must recognise the interdependence of consumers in the Global North and producers in the Global South, with the rising demand for “Western-style” diets putting increasing strain on third world producers.

biofuels, Climate Change, food, Food Waste, fossil fuels, global warming, health, safety, security, studies, study, sustainability, urbanisation