10th February 2005

Matthew Fort, the Food and Drink Editor of 'The Guardian' for over ten years and winner of many food writer awards (i) called for more support for local food at the Stroud District Green Party's Annual General Meeting, yesterday.

Over 40 Green Party members were joined by members of the public in the Old Town Hall for drinks, food and to hear Matthew Fort talk about the wonders of local food culture. He started with a colourful, mouth-watering reading from his book, published last year about his epic scooter trip around Italy - a country he has visited every year since the age of eleven.


Barrage of unsettling statistics

Matthew Fort, who lives in Stroud, then had the audience reeling with a barrage of unsettling and disturbing statistics about the current state of food in Britain; we spend less disposable income on food than other Europeans, ever more on ready-made meals, have ever more local shops closing, have more microwaves than others (except Japan and the US), spend less on food now compared to years ago, have huge numbers of us that are overweight, rarely sit together to eat meals and as the Chief Medical Officer said this generation are more likely to have their children die before them.

Matthew Fort, who regularly visits Stroud Farmers Market, said the arguments for local food are so compelling - better for our health, the environment and much more - that we must ask why isn't it happening more?

Matthew Fort suggested possible reasons included agriculture being wrongly treated as if it was like any other industry and that we have become seduced by cheap food. We don't ask how it is produced. He also argued that all the food catastrophes like BSE, Salmonella and Foot-and-Mouth have resulted from this obsession with price.

By this time, even the Green audience, many of whom such news wasn't new, were beginning to feel depressed. However Matthew Fort then shifted and the remaining talk gave much encouragement and inspiration.

Philip Booth, a Stroud District Green Party member, who was re-elected during the evening to the post of Press Officer for the Green Party, commented: "Even I, who am familiar with the statistics Matthew was using was starting to feel like giving up. Britain is in pretty bad shape when it comes to food. But as Matthew says there is much to be optimistic about. Britain is starting to reclaim an interest. Matthew cited examples like the Real Ale Movement, the rise in Gastro-pubs, the popularity of the new Farmers markets and the Slow Food Movement. I could add the rise of the Green movement and awareness about the importance of local foods."

Philip Booth said: "Indeed Matthew argued along Green lines for the deintensification and decentrilisation of the food chain, breaking up the monopoly of food retailers and state education to improve food knowledge. He noted that all this means prices will rise. Labour, Tory and Lib Dems will never argue for this thinking it would be political suicide, but we have got to realise that cheap food is not good for any of us.  At the moment cheap food includes hidden costs like:

-  spending £1 billion on getting rid of pesticides from our waterways plus yearly on-going costs of around £100 m per year which is paid for in our ever-increasing water bills.

- huge costs in congestion, road repairs and climate change from the 40 per cent of road freight that is now food

- supermarket and transport packaging means extra bills in waste disposal, land fill and incineration

- losing our local shops and communities to superstores

- less healthy food and terrible animal welfare conditions

- giving the aviation industry a tax break of over £9 billion a year plus the hidden costs of almost £4 billion a year. No wonder are orchards are being lost when apples can come as cheaply from New Zealand."

Philip Booth, who has just completed two reports for the Green Party (ii), about the food industry continued: "By challenging the food industry and getting it to pay for it's mess like polluting our waterways, we will see that organic farming and less intensive farming methods will start to not just be niche markets.  If people want to learn more do please visit the report section of our website; <www.glosgreenparty.org.uk>.  As Matthew said, it is down to the consumer to start demanding a change. One way to do that is voting Green and getting the other parties to wake up as to how damaging our current food industry really is."



Notes

(i) These include in 1992 the Glenfidditch Food Writer of the Year, and in 1993, Glenfidditch Restaurant Writer of the Year, as well as The Restaurateurs Association Food Writer of the Year.

(ii) Reports:

-  "Supermarkets: Challenging the myth that they promote jobs and are good for the local economy" available from our website.

-  "Living Streets, Local Food; Green Party action plan for a local, independent, vibrant economy" available in draft form on our website.