Fiona

Yes, if we look back at the war years when necessity required more people grow their own, we undoubtedly had a healthier diet. As is the case with many visitors to this site, my wife and I have a modest allotment which we enjoy hugely – not just for the fruit and vegetables we produce, but also the sheer pleasure it gives us.

But here’s the rub – times (and society) have changed beyond recognition since WWII, and my belief is that whilst some of us choose (or in future may be forced) to grow more of our own food, the vast majority of people either will not wish or be able to do the same. Most people will continue to shop in supermarkets and price will be the determining factor (just look at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s experiences when it came to getting people to pay more for better quality chicken!)

My biggest concern is that the era of cheap food will not come to an end sooner than we think, but rather that the era of “reasonable quality food” (and I use that phrase in the broadest sense!) at a cheap price. What will replace it is an era of low quality, cheap food. Producing your own food is VERY time consuming (without my wife’s efforts on our allotment, we would be unable to grow anything, as I travel abroad almost every week of the year on business), and so many people do not have the luxury of the time it takes to grow/rear their own produce. Many of those time-poor/cash-poor individuals will sacrifice food quality – and be in no doubt that market forces will ensure that their demand is met…………

I agree that the programme was good at pointing out that in some years hence we are going to have to change the way we live. The media doesnt often mention the issue of peak oil and what that will potentially mean for all of us (it is an interesting and rather scary subject). It made me chuckle though when the presenter showed us the way forward for British agriculture. No more huge fields with mono-crops and intensive mechanised farming. The future is small plots of land growing lots of different types of veg, with intercropping, livestock to produce meat and organic fertiliser and more manual labour to grow stuff. Does he mean allotments then ? I think we have beaten him to it on this site !

Kitti

this is well worth reading as it takes into account all the areas covered in this blog