The changing food culture in the UK

Several pressures have led UK food producers and consumers to generate or support alternatives to conventional food chains. Stimulus has come from food scares, especially the 1996 mad cow scandal and the 2001 food-and-mouth epidemic, as well as the controversy over GM food. Many consumers have sought to choose trustworthy sources for their food. Meanwhile food producers have faced a cost-price squeeze: agri-input prices have increased, while farm gate prices have declined.
To continue as producers, farmers have sought ways to add value, e.g. through food promoted as local or organic, especially through direct sales. Known as the Curry Commission, a government-appointed body proposed economic regeneration by reconnecting people with food production, in particular: ‘Reconnect our farming and food industry; to reconnect farming with its market and the rest of the food chain; to reconnect the food chain with the countryside; and to reconnect consumers with what they eat and how it is produced’ (PCFF, 2002: 6).

A prominent organisation, the Campaign for Protection of Rural England, has been promoting local food as important for producers, consumers, retailers and local communities. In its view, ‘local food webs’ link the quality of life with the quality of place. It proposes ways to defend these webs from the threat of supermarket chains: ‘We urgently need to find ways of ensuring that the global food chain and local/regional food networks can coexist’ (CPRE, 2006: 23).
Alongside environmental and food safety issues, consumers are being encouraged to buy both local and national produce, as a celebration of what is good in British culture. Traditionally British food was seen as low quality, but this is being challenged, especially by emphasising the provenance of the food ingredients. Numerous restaurants now promote themselves through the origin of their food. In the mass media, celebrity chefs are increasingly becoming ‘food activists’. These chefs promote local seasonal produce, as well as raising concerns about animal welfare, environmental and economic harm from the conventional food industry.

The changing food culture also features a rising demand for allotments in the UK. Allotments are predominantly inner city, municipally owned, plots of land divided into small blocks which are rented by the public and used for food production. After the Second World War these allotments had provided a real contribution to a family’s diet. As food got cheaper and convenience food became more available, allotment use declined; today only 300,000 remain. However, in the last few years local councils have seen increasing demand for these spaces. There is now a waiting list of 100,000 people. This change has been linked to increased food prices and environmental awareness; the demand also indicates a popular desire to reconnect with food and food production.

This changing approach to food is reflected in a recent speech to farmers by the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Hilary Benn:
As for consumers, an increasing number of us want to buy locally grown, high quality, seasonal British food. And we should be making this as easy as possible – providing better information about products, diversifying to satisfy demand, building the market in seasonal and organic produce. Raising the standards of the rest to meet those of the best (Benn 2009).

The change is also expressed in two current programmes financed by the national lottery. The £50 million Local Food Grants programme is distributing grants to a variety of food-related projects and aims to make locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities. The £10 million ‘Making Local Food Work’ programme aims to refine and deliver a range of community enterprise initiatives which will reconnect the vital links between land and people – or between producers and consumers – and to help mainstream those that are known to work.

Alternatives versus conventional chains
As organic food production increases, it is pulled in different directions. For several years, supermarket chains have been selling organic foods, especially products imported from outside Europe more cheaply than from domestic sources. Moreover, some domestic organic producers have adapted to the standard ‘quality’ requirements for pre-packaging. Consequently, they lose their distinctive vision and proximity to consumers. Moving in a different direction, some growers have sought more direct relations with consumers, partly as means to capture more of the market value for their products (Smith, 2006).
According to a 2004 survey, half of UK organic growers were planning to work cooperatively with other farmers, to increase their market share and improve resilience against external economic shocks (cited in Seyfang, 2008: 190).

Direct sales offer special opportunities to gain extra value from organic products, as well for local food in general. Direct sales include farmers’ markets, farm shops and box schemes. But direct sales involve extra burdens.
…. sorting the products into small boxes is time consuming, and opportunities for economies of scale are subsequently less. Larger operators are investing in information technology systems and other equipment which will permit more efficiency in distribution, offer consumers some choice over the contents of their boxes, and keep consumers informed about developments at the farm (Smith, 2006: 452).

Many organic producers have sought market intermediaries to deal with equipment, regulations and consumers.
More recently some supermarkets have been offering ‘local food’ and/or box schemes. So local producers have been again squeezed by price competition and lower margins. AAFNs of various kinds have been generated as a solution to the market problems paid by producers.
AAFNs depend upon consumers’ commitment to support alternative food chains for many reasons, e.g. gaining fresh food, supporting the local economy, reducing food miles, making social contact, etc. (Hedges and Zykes, 2003). According to a survey,
….. consumers expressed a wide range of economic, social, environmental and personal reasons for purchasing local organic food from the initiative, and many were quite deliberately avoiding supermarkets where possible and choosing to support the alternative food network instead. There was a strong sense of participation in an alternative infrastructure of provision based on different values to the mainstream, and consumers felt actively engaged in creating and supporting this system (Seyfang, 2008: 190).

As novel form of direct sales, farmers’ markets have expanded significantly since they began around 1997. A decade later, farmers’ markets were being held at 550 locations, creating 9500 market days and 230,000 opportunities for stallholders per year. Total annual turnover was estimated at £220m (€250m) in 2006. These opportunities are jointly created by local authorities, community groups, stallholders, producer cooperatives and companies managing the markets (FARMA, 2006). According to a survey of consumer attitudes, nearly everyone who has visited a farmers’ market will return because they enjoy the food as fresh, different, local, etc. (Archer et al., 2003). Farm outlets and farmers’ markets attract similar consumers who recognise quality food from familiar suppliers; thus these outlets potentially complement each other (Youngs, 2003).

In some regions, territorial branding has been developed as a means to promote regional products for economic development. Generally such labels need no protection from imitators. The UK has few examples of special-origin labels registered under EC law. The UK lacks an historical-cultural basis for the numerous ‘quality’ products and speciality labels of some other European countries.

Public procurement: national policy
There have been greater demands and efforts towards procurement of local food by public authorities. A few exemplary successes have gained a high profile, giving encouragement to other promoters (e.g. Thatcher and Sharp, 2008). There are many UK examples of favouring local food, according to a Europe-wide survey (Alimenterra, 2007: 90-123). Successes for local food procurement result from visionary, champions who find ways to use or interpret the rules favourably, often by mobilising stakeholder networks. As a workshop noted, local policies need to fit within competition rules. When Councils want to do something, they will; EU regulations are about interpretation (Sustain, 2009).
Conflicts arise between the lowest price versus ‘best value’, with unclear criteria for justifying a higher price. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has a Sustainable Procurement Strategy emphasising social and environmental benefits as criteria which can be included. Official reviews of the public sector have linked modernisation with greening of procurement criteria (Gershon, 1999), but also have reinforced pressures for ‘efficiency gains’ and lower prices through aggregated purchasing (Gershon, 2004).

That policy accommodates market pressures which marginalise local producers:
There is a trend towards centralisation in this process. Economies of scale and simplicity for the buyer have meant that one-stop foodservice companies are now dominating the market. As buying consortia become more common, and efficiencies and value for money more important, this trend may increase further. In parallel, competition from world markets has pushed commodity prices down. The result is a steady erosion of the business viability of smaller suppliers and processors (Food Links, 2006: 8).

These tensions were highlighted by the Sustainable Procurement Task Force of the government’s Sustainable Development Commission. Its report criticises official guidance for giving no clear direction or incentive to include sustainability criteria such as local regeneration in purchasing decisions.

According to a local authority procurement officer:
The savings required by implementation of the Gershon review are generally perceived as diametrically opposed to achieving sustainable procurement. The decision has to be made: do you consider SD [sustainable development] benefits and pay extra for it? or do you go for a lower price in light of efficiency savings? The lower price tends to win, as the council is being rigorously assessed on Gershon (DEFRA, 2006: 52; cited in Thatcher and Sharp, 2008: 255).

Consequently, local procurement officers remain cautious about favouring local food, especially if it is more expensive. This caution blurs UK policy and EU regulations:
For many years public procurement managers in the UK have convinced themselves that they cannot procure food from local producers because this is prohibited by EU regulations, which uphold the free-trade principles of transparency and non-discrimination. In reality, these regulatory barriers are more apparent than real… (Morgan and Sonnino, 2006: 23).
As another obstacle to improvement of school meals, there is no systematic procedure to give parents a role in the governance of the school service (ibid).

References

• Alimenterra (2007) Dossier of Best Practice in Sustainable Public Food in Europe and the USA,
  http://www.alimenterra.org/doc/International_Public_Food_Dossier.pdf
  
• Archer, G.P. et al. (2003) Latent consumers’ attitudes to farmers’ markets in North West England, British Food Journal 105(8): 487-97.
  
• CPRE (2006) The Real Choice: how local foods can survive the supermarket onslaught. Campaign for Protection of Rural England, www.cpre.org.uk
  
• FARMA (2006) Farmers’ Markets in the UK: nine years and counting. Southampton, www.farma.org.uk
  
• Food Links UK (2006) Best Practice in Sustainable Public-Sector Food Procurement, funded by DEFRA, http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/pdf/foodlinks-be...
  
• Gershon, P. (1999) Review of Civil Procurement in Central Government. London: HM Treasury
  
• Gershon, P. (2004) Releasing Resources to the Front Line: Independent review of public sector efficiency. London: Crown Copyright,
  http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spending_sr04_efficiency.htm
  
• Hedges, A. and Zykes, W. (2003) Local food: a report on qualitative research. London: Food Standards Agency, http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/localqualitative.pdf
  
• Morgan, K. and Sonnino, R. (2006) Empowering consumers: the creative procurement of school meals in Italy and the UK, International Journal of Consumer Studies 31(1): 19-25.
  
• PCFF (2002) Farming and Food: A Sustainable Future, Policy Commission on Farming and Food, chaired by Sir Donald Curry, London: Cabinet Office, http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/farming/pdf/PC%20Report2.pdf
  
• Seyfang, G. (2008) Avoiding Asda? Exploring consumer motivations in local organic food networks, Local Environment 13(3): 187–201.
  
• Smith, A. (2006) Green niches in sustainable development: the case of organic food in the United Kingdom, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 24: 439-58.
  (Sustain, 2009).
  
• Thatcher and Sharp (2208) Measuring the local economic impact of National Health Service procurement in the UK: an evaluation of the Cornwall Food Programme and LM3., in Local Environment, vol 13, April 2008
  
• Youngs, J. (2003) A study of farm outlets in North West England, British Food Journal 105(8): 531-41.