Food security and us
Food security has been a hot topic in the news recently. Greening Tetbury Trustee Anne Cox explores why our current methods of farming and growing aren't sustainable in the long-term and how you can help change our food systems through the choices you make at the shops.
Our food systems have been industrialised. Our current approach has brought the unwanted consequences of food insecurity, animal welfare issues and environmental harms to soil, nature and human health.
Global food trade and the broader food industry are dominated by a handful of multinational corporations, involved in trading grain, (processed wheat, maize, rice) agricultural inputs (oil-derived fertilisers, insecticide, herbicides and seeds); protein processing and packaged consumer goods. Production of the wheat, maize and rice most of the world relies on is concentrated in just a dozen countries. Governments, mirroring our own complacency over food supplies, have abandoned strategic food reserves.
Many UK farms grow a narrow range of commodity crops that can end up anywhere in the world. Prices are set by global markets, margins are tight and farmers are incentivised to chase yield at the expense of knock-on costs to the environment (such as reducing soil quality), long-term food security and our health. Read our blog about the importance of healthy soil.
It’s really hard for farmers to break out of this unsustainable commodity trap but we can help by buying and creating a demand for plant-based produce and meat produced on high welfare sustainable farms. It might seem like a big task, but candles are already being lit and we’re starting to wake up to the dangers of relying on the status quo.
Choose local, choose organic
We can make a difference by changing our shopping habits and adopting a diet that supports farmers and growers to nurture the soil they rely on, diversify into crops that are adapted to our changing climate and supply more of our nutrient needs.
Wherever possible, we can start to buy local and organic, or produce from farms that are converting to regenerative farming methods. We're lucky to have Close Farm Organics on our doorstep - have you tried it? You can even pick your own veg on Saturdays 10am-12pm.
It doesn’t need to be all worthy self-sacrifice…
Have delicious food adventures and vary your diet
Reduce the amount of globalised processed foods and staples you eat: processed wheat (white pasta, pizza, bread) refined white rice, sugar laden breakfast cereals
Embrace whole foods that are home grown or from producers outside the global industrial complex.
If we experiment with the wide variety of whole-food produce that can be grown in the UK climate, much of which can be stored for use all year round, we’ll encourage farmers to diversify into growing a larger variety for the home market: spelt, barley, oats; nuts and seeds; fava beans (eaten by humans all over the world, but in the UK grown for animal feed), split peas, lentils; flours from fava beans, peas, wheat, maize. And we’ll make our food supplies more secure.
Eat with the seasons
Celebrate what the seasons can bring from the land: autumn/winter fruits, greens, pumpkins and squashes, leeks, carrots, spuds, parsnip, swede, onions and, in the early summer, enjoy the first asparagus, cabbages, broad beans and carrots followed by all the bounty of high summer. Check out this UK seasonal foods chart.
You can make salads, barley risottos and pilafs; bean soups, stews, fritters, balls and bhajis. Enjoy gnocchi and wraps, nut breads, soda bread, scones and veggie farls, muffins, cakes, cookies, oatcakes, and flatbreads and dumplings made with a variety of flours (pea is a favourite of mine) and delicious buddha bowl.
People are waking up to the delicious food that is gruel - stigmatised as “poor food”, this lost national staple is making a come-back and exciting our palettes once more.
Join our Supper Club. Interested in swapping plant-based recipes? We're trying to get a Greening Tetbury Supper Club up and running. Email us to get involved.
"But “, I hear you say, “it’s hard to get adequate protein from such a diet. Vegan food has more carbs and therefore calories. A diet of fresh food costs more and cooking from scratch takes more time”. Let's explore this...
Can we get adequate protein from plants?
The protein humans need for health is made up of nine amino acids. Meats provide all nine, but most beans, grains and nuts only provide some of the amino acids we need.
Non-vegans can enrich their diet with meat and dairy but a vegan diet can also provide all the essential amino acids from standalone plant-based complete proteins (soy, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, hemp, chia, spirulina, nutritional yeast) or by combining complementary plant foods because, together, they provide the whole range. They don’t need to be eaten together in the same meal but diets all over the world have found combinations to get full protein: rice and beans, wholemeal bread and peanut butter, corn tortillas with beans, pitta bread and hummus, seeded breads.
Protein, Calories and Cost
According to the British Heart Foundation, an adult needs about 45g to 55g of protein per day. I’ve calculated that on average, to meet our full daily protein needs from high welfare or organic produce:
Food type | Weight | Calories | Cost | Protein |
Organic combined beans and grains | 143g beans and 72g grain | 750 | £0.93 | All provide your daily intake of protein 45-55g |
Beef | 225g | 700 | £2.00 Organic and high welfare £4.00 | |
Chicken | 200g | 240 | £2.50 Organic and high welfare £8.40 |
So yes, getting your daily protein needs from a vegan meal may mean a few more calories but it’s only a fraction of the 2,000-2.500 calories needed by and adult, you spend less money, and this doesn’t reflect the extra health-giving benefits of plant-based proteins.
What about vitamin B12?
If B12 was only found in meat where would the supplements for vegans come from? B12 is synthesised by bacteria in soil and water. Modern hygiene and soil depletion means we can’t rely on unwashed produce or natural surroundings to supply it naturally.
Vegans can go to supplements or foods like breakfast cereals, plant milks or nutritional yeast that are fortified with lab produced B12.
Doesn't eating healthy food and cooking from scratch take more time?
This can be true but there are ways to make cooking from scratch faster:
Batch cook large quantities of staples like soups, stews or roasted vegetables to store for later.
Chop and measure all your ingredients before you turn on the heat.
Cook one pot meals, stir-fries; use a pressure cooker or frozen veg/tinned beans when time is tight…just as nutritious as fresh (and not as much washing up!).
Avoiding food waste
Reducing your food waste is another ideal that’s hard to live up to, but try these tips:
Plan your week’s menus and shop for those ingredients
Before you shop, check what you already have and plan your meals around that.
Only buy and cook cook what you need
Only buy offers and multiples if they are long life
Use leftovers in salads, soups, stews
Store your food so it keeps:- keep roots in a cotton bag in the veg drawer of the fridge (avoids rot and dehydrated roots are still good)
Wash spin and store leaves in a glass or plastic container with kitchen paper at the base
Store left overs you won’t use immediately in portions in the freezer To help, you can get information on recommended portion sizes online https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/wholegrains
I’m not advocating a vegan diet but the message is simple for a healthy secure food future: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”, Michael Pollan Make veg and beans the centre of the plate and avoid ultra processed foods
Further reading and sources:
Follow BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme or Farming Today for regular broadcasts and updates
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