by Matt Reed
5. August 2010 05:29
A little local difficulty has appeared in the British food system as it has been revealed by the New York Times that it has been receiving milk and meat from cloned animals. Although the cloning of animals was first invented in the UK it has never been acceptable for those animals to enter the food chain. Whilst this might surprise/please many readers in North America, like most Europeans the British have a great deal of un-ease about the genetic manipulation of their foodstuffs.
In no small way this stems from the experience of BSE which devastated British agriculture and only good fortune stopped it doing the same for the British population -although hundreds of people died appalling deaths. After that the revolt against GM foods could have been predicted by anyone but some fairly unaware multinational companies. As the British food industry re-built its reputation the question of animal welfare became progressively more important, with significant interventions by celebrity Chefs such as Jamie Oliver. Recent moves to establish a very large dairy unit, were withdrawn as a result of the controversy they caused - although it appears these plan may be re-submitted. Whilst this is far from a revolution towards sustainable agriculture a trajectory had appeared to be gathering momentum.
At the same time the new coalition appears to be clearing the decks of much of the government apparatus that was instrumental in rebuilding that trust, not least diminishing the role of the Food Standards Agency - that is currently investigating the 'cloned' produce. As Tim Lang has reminded us recently there are many difficult issues facing the food system - peak oil, climate change and rising prices, which will require a dialogue with consumers. Perhaps this incident will help the new government, and those who have their ear, to realise that it is easier to destroy trust than build it.
