WHO'S TO BLAME?
It was a coincidence that an article I wrote over four weeks ago was published last week in the middle of the 'horse-burger' furore. Notice that I don't call it a crisis, nobody that we know of has been harmed. The root of the matter is public indignation that the listed ingredients were not a true indication of what was in the packet. I realise that there are cultural and religious implications and I sympathise with anyone who feels they have been made to eat what they regard as a forbidden food but in terms of public health, there are as yet no confirmed indications that any harm has been done.
That said, what is actually going on here? Remember that last week I was drawing attention to the fact that when the peasants were poor and had to source their own food they were getting the best diet in nutritional terms available. It was only when we became comparatively rich and were divorced from the land that the problems started to arise due to unscrupulous traders attempting to raise their profit margins. I have little doubt that somewhere along the supply chain this is at the root of the present problems but it would be a mistake to immediately blame the retailer because it may well be that they have been duped as well. What needs to be done as far as horse meat is concerned is to investigate and find where the actual break in the chain occurred and this will take time.
Anyone who has read food history in any depth will realise that this is an age-old problem. The only time you can be certain you are eating stewed rabbit is if you caught it yourself or saw it before it was skinned. I am told that it takes an expert to tell the difference between cat and rabbit once it has been cut up. Sorry about that! So, once we get to the point of processed food we have only one defence, trust in whoever did the processing. This is the big problem facing the food industry at the moment, trust has been damaged and even the most reputable brands have suffered. This of course leaves aside the whole question of the sourcing of ingredients for industrial caterers, the people who supply hospitals, schools and other institutions. Add to this the whole of the fast food industry and in terms of economics a cloud of doubt has descended on most of the modern food chain.
Right, that's the problem. The question is, are we helpless in the face of this or is there something we can do? Luckily, there is a simple answer, yes, buy natural and identifiable ingredients and cook your own food. The problem with this is that it's quite amazing how many people say they can't cook or haven't the time. I often wonder how much of the 'can't cook' syndrome is down to the interminable programmes on television where professional chefs make incredibly complicated dishes using esoteric ingredients. As for the “I haven't got time” syndrome, you all know what I think about that! Everyone has the same amount of time and all that has to be done is get the priorities right and manage it. There will be many reading this who know the satisfaction of cooking plain food at home and producing simple tasty dishes that would grace any restaurant. With the advent of home-freezing an industrial scale cook fest at weekend can fill the fridge with 'ready meals' at a fraction of the cost you could buy them at the supermarket and with the best ingredients. What could be more satisfying?
Whenever anything like this happens we are bombarded by people trying to tell us who's to blame. At the moment they are concentrating on horse meat because they think that's the limit of our understanding. Keep it simple and have a few knee-jerk arrests to show something is being done. We've seen all this before and it is no solution. Did you notice the other day that domestic science is to be taught in schools again? If there is a long term solution this is where it may lie, in better education not only how to cook but about nutrition and I applaud it.
That's the good news, now for the bad. I'm afraid that a major factor in all of this is complacency and idleness. In a world full of distractions a large proportion of the population have lost sight of one of the essentials of life, putting effort into making sure that we are eating healthy and nutritious foods. It's easier to go to the supermarket and buy incredibly expensive ready made meals and processed foods than to put some effort into making our own. The fast food shops proliferate and I am always surprised to see people shopping for breakfast early in the morning. Do they have store-cupboards? Is there anything in them? I was brought up to always have food stocks at home and to plan my meals well ahead. Only the other day I saw a young woman stood in front of the ready meal cabinet in the Co-op having a conversation on her mobile phone with her partner about what she should bring home for tea, today's version of the peasant hunter-gatherer. Is this what we have come to? Total dependency on other people to cook for us?
I know some people will think I am being hard but this is where the real solution lies to the present kerfuffle over adulterated burgers. Everyone needs to take control of their own diet. One of the arguments often used is that it's 'poor people' who buy the cheap food and they can't afford any better. Perhaps we need some television programmes showing how cheap cuts of meat and fresh vegetables can be made easily into nutritious meals at less cost than the 'value-burgers'. Before the days of supermarkets when most of us really were poor, we raised families on cheap food well cooked at home and I don't know about your family but all my daughters turned out to be good cooks and keep the old ways going. Education starts in the home and taking the easy way out by giving a child money to buy a sandwich for breakfast on the way to school is both expensive and counter-productive. Get them up earlier and make them eat a proper breakfast! Make sure they have a home-cooked meal when they come home and perhaps in that way we'll get them into the habit of regarding food as something that comes out of the kitchen, not a chiller cabinet at the supermarket!
]Remember Winter Warmer? Here's a Sea Pie after cooking six hours on the stove in the front room unattended.
