The time is coming…. I couldn’t be more excited about this news. Henry Dimbleby (the man behind the School Food Plan) is leading a year-long independent review into how England can ensure its food system is fit for the 21st Century; how we can improve the nation’s health; how we can reshape food in conjunction with climate change and increasing resilience in agriculture; how as the public we can have a say about the future of food.
Think of food evolution… pretty much since the stone age to the end of the Second World War, humans ate natural or lightly processed food (cheese, butter, cream, cured meats). When the microwave arrived on our shelves from America in 1970, and our lives centred on convenience over community, everything changed. Eating became functional and the appreciation that we are living organisms as part of a much larger food system on our planet became almost forgotten.
And that is what I am so excited about – a real food revolution… the first independent review for a National Food Strategy in 75 years! Food will once again be seen as a vital (rather than functional) part of our existence in England. It brings us together, it unites us, it makes us strong, and healthy, and can cure. It protects us from disease, it provides jobs, and ways of life. It is creative, artistic, it uses the senses. But then it also embraces science, technology and research.
There aren’t many things that food cannot be equated to as part of our daily lives. So thank you, Henry Dimbleby and team, for bringing food back up the priority ladder, and making us look at it with our fresh digital-age hat on. As I’m so passionate about this movement, I decided to write to him. I hope he replies 😊.
Hi Henry,
I am delighted to hear that real steps are being put in motion to address the food system in England. I have been following the Food Foundation (which is where I recently heard about the National Food Strategy) and went to the Veg Power summit in City Hall in 2018.
My business, DizzleSky, is about the end result – the people holding the fork. I look at their cooking preference and come up with practical strategies to make cooking and eating healthily ‘normal’ for them, discovering their barriers and creating solutions.
I am keen to reach as many people as is possible in England, no matter what background they are from, and for us to change the way we think about the cooking process as a whole and pass these tools on to future generations.
I would love to work with you on your review and shaping the way we, as a nation, think about food. Do let me know if I can help in any way.
Best wishes,
Annabel
