Good food stories: our choices make the world of difference

Since the Second World War, we have allowed the production, distribution and retailing of our food to be taken over by ever bigger organisations. This is a policy pursued by successive governments to achieve ever greater productivity through economies of scale. We, the shoppers, have welcomed this trend on the grounds of price, convenience and choice. The results are well known: seven-eighths of the people involved in growing our food have been forced to leave the land, two-thirds or more of small independent traders have been put out of business, most food is now trucked, shipped or flown over huge distances and ninety-five percent of the UK population do their main shopping at supermarkets. The high streets are dying or becoming homogenised by retail chains and fast food outlets. But over the last few years a quiet revolution has been taking place. Alongside the gigantism there has grown up a series of networks that are pointing in the opposite direction. They have certain characteristics in common. First, they are striving to bring back a sense of community which has been weakened by this trend. Second, they are often motivated by compassion for the vulnerable, whether they are producers, consumers or the animals which provide much of our food. They also enable people to remain in contact with the earth, and are helping others, who have either lost contact with the land or who have never had it, to gain access in new and exciting ways. Finally, they are restoring a sense of conviviality to growing, shopping, cooking and eating, which is in danger of being lost. The author details the efforts of a tiny selection of the courageous people from Britain and around the world to restore these qualities. Their example is an encouragement and inspiration to us all. They demonstrate that small is beautiful but also practical with cooperation. Fifty years ago we spent a third of our income on food; now merely a tenth. Only a quarter of us today need to look for the cheapest food: the other three-quarters can afford to ask themselves whether their purchase is reinforcing the trend towards greater uniformity and gigantism or whether they are supporting care of soil and animals, diversity, and fair trade. The possibility of change is in our hands. We are not as helpless against the big battalions as we sometimes think. We forget that every time we buy we are voting for impersonal gigantism or a more humane way of life.