The typical Briton is giving up fish and chips in favour of Thai takeaways and choosing locally grown food over expensive organic produce, but still failing to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to The Independent on Sunday yesterday.
For the first time, the Government has produced a wide-ranging assessment of British eating, using food diaries, surveys and official industry statistics.
It appears that we prefer locally grown produce to organic and free-range food. This is probably understandable as we become ever more cost conscious. However one of the more worrying statistics in the Government report tells us that more than 200,000 people in the nation's poorest homes often go an entire day without food.
Thai food is becoming the biggest growth area in the £30.5bn a year eating-out food sector, which includes food-serving pubs, restaurants and takeaways. We spend £7.6bn annually on fast food, including fish and chips, pizza, burgers and Thai, Chinese and Indian takeaway. But the figures reveal that the traditional British fish and chip supper accounts for only 3 per cent of food cooked outside the home.
The report comes as ministers prepare a campaign urging us to "Buy British" as a way of helping the UK through recession. From tomorrow, local food producers will be encouraged to bid for more public sector contracts, while Food minister Jane Kennedy will pledge that the Government will do all it can to promote British food within European free market laws.
Before the advent of large supermarkets, greengrocers and butchers selling local produce were easy to find. These have now disappeared in favour of convenience stores that only sell tinned produce, making it harder for people without their own transport to purchase fresh items. And as more and more families consist of two breadwinners, we are turning to takeaway food as a quick and easy meal solution.
Maybe now is the time to re-evaluate our eating habits. How could the Government persuade you to "Buy British"?
