There is no shortage of food in the UK and supply is no longer seasonal in a global industry. Consumers have come to expect cheap food and, in many cases, are unwilling to pay more for quality or local produce rather than that produced by intensive modern industrial agriculture.
Diet is linked to physical health, emotional well-being, behaviour, concentration and performance, and has implications for the provision of healthcare. Today's hectic pace means that eating is increasingly fitting into people's lifestyles rather than regular mealtimes structuring people's lives. A shortage of time, cooking skills and interest in food means that 'refuelling on the go' has become the routine for many. That is not to say that there are no enthusiastic 'foodies' left, who find preparing meals relaxing, satisfying, creative and enjoy cooking for others, but they are apparently no longer the majority.
From an early age eating is associated with security and comfort and, in later life, is an intrinsic part of social life and a ritualistic element of major celebrations such as weddings and Christmas. Families who do not sit down to a meal together regularly miss an important social occasion and the opportunity to show interest in one another.
According to some predictions, today's generation of children will be the first for over a century for whom life expectancy falls. Former killer diseases such as whooping cough, smallpox and diphtheria may have been virtually eradicated but the largely self-inflicted one of obesity has replaced them. Evidence from the Select Committee on Health suggests that people are, generally speaking, aware of what constitutes a healthy diet but face various barriers to their putting this into practice. In the absence of practical cookery lessons, children and young people are growing up without the skills to prepare healthy meals, compounding reliance on convenience, energy-dense foods that are high in calories without being correspondingly filling. In simple terms, obesity is caused by consuming more calories than energy expenditure requires. The Select Committee estimates that only just over a third of men and around a quarter of women achieve the Department of Health's target of 30 minutes of physical activity five times a week, while a fifth of boys and girls undertake less than 30 minutes' activity a day. So serious is the problem of obesity-related disease that some sort of government intervention is expected by 2007 and the food industry is under intense pressure to reduce sugar, salt and fat levels in its products, or face 'naming and shaming' and tighter regulation.
Some people may resent what they perceive to be dictatorial interference as to what they should or should not eat. Banning the sale of beef on the bone during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis was seen by many as unwarranted interference from a 'nanny state'; more recently, a health authority was the subject of some ridicule for banning the Women's Institute from taking home-baked cakes into hospital wards, a practice they had carried out for years. However, the Health Select Committee report published in May 2004 concluded that:
"We note that it is difficult to establish the impact of any individual measure to combat so complex and challenging an issue as obesity; this is not, in our view, an excuse to delay and measures must be taken to tackle the nation's diet and its levels of activity. We acknowledge the responsibility of the individual in respect of his or her own health but believe that the Government must resist inaction caused by political anxiety over accusations of 'nanny statism'."
This report looks at how cooking and eating habits are affected by lifestyles, economic restraints, awareness of diet, lack of cooking skills, physiological, psychological, religious, ethical and cultural issues. To assist its compilation, exclusive consumer research was carried out to ascertain what factors had most contributed to any change in eating habits in recent years. As in similar surveys conducted for previous Key Note Market Assessment reports on cooking and eating habits, the most commonly cited factor was a greater awareness of dietary requirements and effects on health. However, the percentage in 2004 saying this had declined from 2003, which in turn had decreased from 2001 and 1999. One might hope that this is because the message on diet and health was firmly taken on board years before but, given the state of the nation's health, it is more likely to be a reflection of ignorance or, worse, indifference.
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