Food For Thought

London Fields # 45
First published Inpress, Melbourne on 31 October 2007
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here

We found ourselves sat huddled and shivering in a local beer garden after work the other week. The practical ramifications of the smoking ban (which was introduced in the summer) are now really making their presence felt, as the clocks go back and the long nights close in. We sat there so that the few smokers in our party could continue as they always had.

There’s often talk here that the welfare state has evolved into the nanny state, but the health of the UK does give cause for concern, particularly in the light of some recently published reports. The nation is drinking far too much, and some of the largest problem drinking levels were found in average middle class areas. This will get see a huge rise in liver and heart disease, and a subsequent strain on the NHS as a result. Even now casualty departments already have a pretty rough time of it with the drink-related injuries and incidents every weekend.

Now the garden we were sitting in was equipped with gas fires, but sadly these weren’t turned on. I’m aware that these are a hugely inefficient form of heating at a time we’re being asked to be much more aware of our environment. But in recent weeks the health secretary Alan Johnson has said that the people of the UK face a threat to rival global warming, and that is obesity!

According to the Foresight Report, the UK has the highest obesity rates in the European Union with 24.2% of adults now classed as obese. The predictions given by for 2050 are even more startling and alarming; mainly that 26% of children, 50% of women and a staggering 60% of men will be obese by this date. The health service is struggling with this already, and they’re not alone. In Lancashire, the fire brigade is wondering if they’ll have to impose fees on helping to move very heavy people. This is not a joke – some people can’t get out of the house without a crane. In North Wales, they’ve has an obese dummy weighing over 26 stone especially built to give their emergency services practice with something they’ll experience more and more often.

Harry Enfield returned to the BBC in April after a long absence with Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul. Enfield may not be well known in Australia, suffice to say that The Fast Show grew out of characters rejected by Enfield for his own show back in the ‘90’s. Anyway, some sketches were based around two enormous teenage children, known as Jamie and Oliver, whose life only moves from one take away to another fast food joint, only stopping for some chocolate on the way. Although never stated, perhaps it is a factor that crisps and chocolate are so much more available and affordable than fresh produce? And while Jamie’s School Dinners did actually achieve some success, our supermarkets (one of which Jamie advertises) can’t agree a standard labelling on displaying dietary information. Looking for lunch last week, I put the macaroni cheese back after seeing this small tray represented 110% of my daily allowance for saturated fats.

English cooking has improved over the years; so the lard-heavy recipes of Two Fat Ladies tended to leave a reactionary and slightly sick taste in the mouth. But now it seems that Nigella Lawson has jumped into the frypan with her latest series, Nigella Express. This new series sometimes seems one step from how to take the ready meal out of the freezer and pop it into the microwave. Nigella smiles and tosses her hair as she boasts that the only exercise she ever does is to skip to the fridge. Then she uses half a kilo of chocolate to make 12 "therapy" cookies, and I feel fatter for just watching it. Later she fries bread and rolls it in sugar for instant midnight gratification, and then shovels it down. Now the Daily Mail has started a whole thing about Nigella’s weight, but that’s not the real issue here. Rather it’s about responsibility to a populace that is rapidly heading towards avoidable diabetes and early death. Although on one level it’s simply a matter of less food, less saturated fats and more exercise to avoid this, the British mindset also has to be overcome. After a long day, it’s hard to resist the affordable temptation of three supermarket pizzas for three quid.

Whilst in that pub beer garden, one of the blokes their related the story of when his Italian flatmates cooked a "traditional English breakfast" for him. It was gorgeous he said. But they’d used some delicatessen sausage, and a lot of it was grilled. So the next day he resolved to cook it for them properly, with cheap snags, value baked beans and fatty bacon.

There’ll always be an England. But between size zero and XXXL, there may be very little middle ground left. And its people may no longer live as long as their neighbours…


© James McGalliard 2007