It was great to be at this event.
We heard Kirsten Larsen (Eaterprises), Katinka Day (CHOICE), Zac Lewis (FoodBank Victoria) and Tobie Puttock (The Good Foundation) discuss the reasons why we eat what we eat, and explore how food can unite people to push for change and reclaim the power of food.
You can watch the whole event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg38nm88h0g It is an interesting hour!
Here is a summary of what I took away from it.
Freakiest facts:
- 43% of our veggie intake is potato chips
- Uber Eats has more orders for Macca chips than anything else
Best perspective:
- We do produce enough food, in the whole world, to feed everyone in the whole world.
- Most countries produce enough food to provide their people with a healthy diet.
- 40% of the food we produce goes to waste.
Biggest Challenge:
- It is in the interest of the big food companies to have us buy their sugar, fat and salt filled food because that gives them the biggest profit.
- It is in their interest for us to waste food, because that means we will buy more.
- At the same time, 4 million Australians are food insecure: that means it is hard to get good daily meals on the table. 3 million Australians are very food insecure, they can’t afford to eat properly and are missing meals.
The Big Questions:
- How do we get good food to the masses?
- (Yes, I nearly burst a blood vessel sitting still and not yelling out “YamDaisy Cafes!)
What can we do?
- Regulate the big food companies to be more responsible: this is the governments job and we need to make them do it. You can sign up to Choice campaigns like this current one: https://action.choice.com.au/page/33382/petition/1?utm_source=choice&utm_medium=consumer-advocacy&utm_campaign=added_sugar_letterwritng
- Think about what we eat and how we eat, what we buy and how we buy. Make changes to be healthier, more responsible.
- Support sectors outside the mainstream supermarkets (farmers markets and other initiatives).
- Help the organisations that are working on this.
Thankyou Vic Health and the Sandro Demaio Foundation for this event held in Melbourne on Monday 26th November 2018