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Fat Chance
The first of three articles which looks at the effects of diet and budget on health
It seems perverse that phrases designed by the business and political classes to identify with shedding waste - belt-tightening, waste reduction, streamlining - seem in life to achieve exactly the opposite result quite a lot.
An unusually literal example of just that occurred today, when it was reported in the Guardian that half of British men and women are overweight. The British Heart Foundation had predictable palpitations, warning that lack of regulation around advertising of cheap junk food was contributing to the nation's expanding waistline, as well as bigger projects like town planning and public transport infrastructure.
I like both of those ideas a lot - emotionally, they appeal to an ascetic side of me that also enjoys not using any form of transport at all and buying and freezing fresh produce for later consumption. It does, however, rely on a couple of key elements; quality and affordability. If the offer is no good, I will not buy it. However, if I was to be priced out of my usual shop, what choice do I have? I have to buy what is available.
The most recent example of this can be found in a 12 month overview of the ONS's annual average consumer price inflation index for 2013. This report highlights the annual average inflation per item in % terms. The only thing with a higher rate of inflation than food over 2013;is alcohol at 6.2% (interesting fact: more pubs closed in 2013 than 2012, when the inflation rate for alcohol stood at 6%)
The average rate of inflation above price for food and non-alcoholic beverages is 3.8%. That's higher than last year's figure of 3.2%, which was at least lower than 2011's all time high of 5.5%. In real terms, British people are paying more for food out of their salary packets year on year.
How do the British compare like for like with Europe? Poorly, according to the OECD, who suggest that the British pay more than their Scandinavian peers, France, and much of Central Europe as well as countries struggling with sovereign debt such as Spain, Italy and Portugal.
As a continent, Britain averages above Europe's inflation rates by.6%.
It would be unreasonable to consider costs without means of spending, and this is where a relationship begins to form. The government's report on the issue reported that median income fell by 12% for low income households from 2002-03 to 2010-11. That picture has not changed since. Furthermore, the median income in every other income group - bar the highest income group level - dropped by between 1% and 7%.
It's important to recognise this fact -whilst people can put on weight quickly, it takes a long time for a country to change its national physique, and the downward pressures on real incomes added to the upward pressures on food and energy, particularly oil, which rocketed to above $100 a barrel during the second Gulf War, have begun to force this to happen. Equally important are attitudes to food and eating, which tend to be generational and change at a glacial pace. More on that in the next post.
If that wasn't enough, American nutritionist Dr Adam Drewnowski has made some interesting links between spending power and obesity, and his analysis of what a hypothetical dollar would buy from the average grocery shop is compelling, if disturbing reading. The picture is similar in the UK. The government's own research suggests that:
"Those on lower incomes tend to buy different food items to:
- those on average or high incomes but food prices for these different shopping baskets have risen at about the same rate"
I'll also go into more detail on what those products are, and some interesting information around what informs those decisions, in my next post.
It's pretty pertinent to look at what's available on the supermarket shelf for the average Brit. The Department For Environment Food and Rural Affairs notes that 25% of Gross Value Added in food and drink manufacturing in 2012 was beverages, including soft drinks.
The biggest group was baked and other 'farinaceous' products - which is shorthand for products with flour, starch or yeast in them, and therefore difficult for the human body to break down. The three smallest groups were grain, fish and crustacean and fruit and vegetable providers - which all provide fibre and vitamins A and C. There's also a preservative element to contend with - baked good produce this naturally through the process whilst fruit, veg and live meat and veg have a shorter shelf life, indicating faster turnover. Again it's not hard to see why people turn to Greggs and not the greengrocer.
Finally, British energy prices must also play a part here. As a recent Oxfam survey shows, Britain suffers some of the most volatile price swings For many items to be eaten, they must be cooked, which results in fuel of some sort.
And again, despite much of David Cameron's posse deriding Labour's 'Marxist' strategy of price-capping energy bills to customers, there is some meat on the bones of Ed Milband's argument (that's the only food-related metaphor I'll use, FYI).
The same data from the OECD shows Britain paying a comparatively higher cost in real terms of take-home pay than much of their counterparts, and the overall figure for the OECD Europe area was 1.3% in 2013 versus Britain's figure of 3.4% - whilst that compares favourably to countries like Turkey and Norway, it pales in comparison to France and Germany's figures of .6% and 1.4% respectively, as well as Italy and Spain - again (though these last two have probably benefited from massive central investment from the ECB).
Food is a subject that should engender a more emotional reaction than it does. It's the difference between life and death, and everything in between. Yet all the evidence suggests the means to a healthy, sustainable life are being challenged like never before.
Up next: what makes certain food types so popular? What is the effect of branding when buying food and drink? And what can we do to recycle our food to ease cost pressures on manufacturers?
Sources
OECD: Consumer Prices, Annual Inflation Data
Dr Adam Drewnowski: Poverty and Obesity
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Food Pocketbook 2013
ONS wage inflation data 2013
Pic courtesy of The Guardian
