With ballooning waistlines, increasing levels of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, are we a country engulfed by gluttony?
Perhaps perversely, Babu Basu argues that the U.K. doesn’t think about food enough.
I love food.
I love reading about it, shopping for it, preparing it and devouring it with my friends.
Recently, I’ve started to acknowledge Cookie Monster from Sesame Street as one of my idols. He’d always appealed, and now I know why…
…we’re both endearing gluttons!
As a food fanatic, I try to savour every last mouthful. But, unlike your average glutton, I’d rather eat a bit less and delight my taste buds with every bite, then consume vast quantities of flavourless fare.
A few months ago I was in Sicily, surrounded by fantastic foods and numerous chances to over-indulge. As I gleefully dug in, my gut and my guilt starting me thinking about an increasingly weighty problem in the U.K. – obesity.
I often wonder whether people with serious weight problems enjoy food. This may sound like a peculiar notion, but, do the morbidly obese really savour every last mouthful? I suggest not.
They may constantly be thinking about food or eating it, but do they really appreciate or understand what they are eating? Do they know how it was prepared, what it does to the body and what it contains? Again, I suggest not.
If more people actually understood the effort that goes into making fresh food, knew how to prepare it and took time out to eat it, then perhaps, obesity wouldn’t prove so prevalent.
Before you write in (and please do), I know the reasons for obesity are numerous and complex, but hear me out.
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Without doubt, the 24 hour world we live in, has made our lives more hectic. The British work the longest hours in Europe.
Instead of eating well in preparation for a long day, the average Brit eats badly or goes without.
We devour snacks, high in sugar, salt and fat, which we wash down with sugary drinks and tea and coffee. We forget that these are ‘substitute foods’ that should to be eaten sparingly in conjunction with a balanced diet, not instead of it.
You wouldn’t find the French, Italians and the Greek skipping breakfast or lunch. Why should we?
We may be busy in this country, but ask yourself this:
Do the Greeks have more hours in the day than us? No.
Is commerce less important or less challenging in France? No.
Are Italian businesses devoid of deadlines and schedules? No.
Is the U.K. missing out unnecessarily? You bet.
How can we continue to be a productive workforce when we lack the very fuel needed to keep us going?
As obesity levels and work related stress, increase exponentially, can we really afford not to make time for food?
I don’t expect us all to sit down to five course banquets every night or take two hours off for lunch. Modern humans don’t have the time, money or inclination to eat like that. But time off, we definitely need.
We don’t pay food the respect it deserves and in doing so we don’t pay ourselves the respect that we deserve.
By continuously skipping meals and eating badly, we tell ourselves and others, that our time, health and happiness are off little consequence. Is this what we really want?
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Post script:
At last!
The Government have finally seen sense (and ever growing waistlines). They have finally agreed to put Food Studies, Home Ec, call it what you will, back on the syllabus.
For decades, schools in a cash strapped Britain faced severe shortages. For many local authorities, cutting Home Ec seemed the easy way out. But was it really?
As doctors and dieticians will tell you, this ’saving’ cost us dear.
Our knowledge and understanding of food declined and with it, our ability to cook and look after ourselves.
I am not suggesting for a minute that we can’t produce great cooks in this country.
Absolutely not.
Most of my food heroes like Gordon Ramsey, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver are home grown.
But, despite there being more media coverage devoted to food as well as more foodie TV, the number of people who actually understand food is far less than two generations ago.
There was a time when many of us could bake a decent sponge cake at home. “So what?”, you might ask.
But it’s more than just having the skill to bake. Its about understanding what goes into a cake.
How much fat? How much sugar? And, it’s about understanding what affect that fat and sugar has on our bodies.
The more we know about food, the better informed we are and the better choices we can make.
We should be applauding people like Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall. With every cookery programme that is clear, easy to follow and interesting, these chefs help to remove our fear of food. We are without doubt, a nation that has become ‘food afraid’.
I congratulate Jamie Oliver for his tireless work on school dinners. His campaigning made the Government focus on the need for quality food in our schools and the impact that food can have on our 21st Century children.
When he started the long road to improving our school dinners, Jamie wasn’t in it for the publicity. He wasn’t looking to promote a new book or to promote a new restaurant.
He just wanted our children to eat better and live longer.
I wonder how many other high profile chefs would have the guts and the motivation to do what he did.
Obviously, the Government’s increasing focus on school food may not help those of us who have already left the education system. However, I hope that children currently in our schools will grow up to be adults who are happier, healthier and more confident with food.
We need to get this right – our Nation’s health depends on it.
