Category: nutrition

What Wales Could Do with a Community Food Strategy

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By Jane Powell

This article was originally published by IWA on August 31, 2021.

As pressure to meet net zero emissions targets grows, Oxfam has warned that the drive to plant trees could lead to vast areas of land being taken out of food production, leading to hunger for the most vulnerable.

Now carbon offsetting is causing concern much closer to home. As reports emerge of corporations buying whole farms for afforestation. Ceredigion MP Ben Lake has warned that rural communities, the Welsh language and food production are being sacrificed to a ‘green-washed business-as-usual’.

Wales has its own target of net zero by 2050. Following guidance from the Climate Change Committee, it plans to move around a fifth of agricultural land from livestock rearing to carbon sequestration, supported by a change in diet away from red meat consumption. 

However, even given the need for more trees, there does not need to be a simple sacrifice of food production for forestry. What is needed is a comprehensive land use policy, one that recognises that food production, forestry and other land uses all have a place, and can even sometimes be combined, as for instance in agroforestry. 

A food strategy for Wales

An effective land use policy would need to be linked to a food policy. England has come up with some pointers in its recent National Food Strategy, an independent report to which government has yet to respond. Such a food policy could help us decide what our land is for, as well as pulling together other threads, from farming and the economy to health and social inclusion.

Both the Welsh Food Manifesto and the Food Policy Alliance Cymru have been calling for just such a joined-up food policy for some time. Now, the Welsh Government has announced that it will create a Community Food Strategy during its current term.

At first glance, the reference to ‘community’ seems limiting. It makes no reference to how Wales as a whole intends to feed itself, or to the global impacts of outsourcing food production to countries with lower farming standards, or of importing livestock feed grown on land taken out of tropical rainforest.

Maybe, though, communities are a good place to start. We have many inspiring grassroots projects which are busy reconnecting people with food production. Numerically small, these projects nevertheless represent the citizen power so essential to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.

They are pioneering new ways of doing things, including community gardens, local food hubs, community meals and Community Supported Agriculture projects. 

Local integration

In particular, community food projects could be an important way to integrate farming and food policy. 

On the one hand, we have a forthcoming Sustainable Farming Scheme that will reward farmers for managing the land environmentally, while at the same time supporting them to develop their businesses. Food production, which is not considered to be a public good, will not be directly supported and so will depend on other policy moves. 

On the other, we have an action plan for food that is mainly about developing the food and drinks industry, with an aspiration in the next version to contribute to community development.  This strategy has little to say about farming.

What community projects might do therefore is to bridge the gap between these two policies, by reaching out to local farmers and growers and connecting them with markets, tapping into a growing demand for local food. 

These markets include retail, the hospitality sector and public procurement; Carmarthenshire is already backing local sourcing as part of the government’s Foundational Economy programme.

The missing link here is infrastructure, including small abattoirs, processing facilities, cold storage and distribution, which will need investment. The returns are big though: the regeneration of rural economies, vibrant communities and a healthier population with cooking and gardening skills.

Alongside physical infrastructure it is also important to build democratic processes that allow citizens to contribute to local decision-making, something that is encouraged by the Well-being of Future Generations Act but difficult to attain in practice.

Here, there is inspiration in the shape of Food Cardiff, Our Food Crickhowell and the Sustainable Food Places network which have shown their worth in mobilising community responses to the pandemic.

Land use

Food security is a key concern of community food projects, and provides an impetus for local food production. But this depends on access to land. As outrage builds over the sale of the countryside to corporate interests, what can we do?

One approach might be to develop a Rural Land Use Framework, as the English food strategy recommends. The English model would assign land to one of three compartments: intensive food production, natural habitats or an agroecological combination of farming and nature. 

We might not follow that model in Wales, but without any plan at all, we may default to a combination of intensive farming and rewilding which will disappoint many. 

The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission is calling for the English land use framework to be led by local communities, and again, a Welsh Community Food Strategy could allow for that.

Another approach would be to follow Scotland’s example of the community right to buy, so that Welsh farms that came on the market could be bought by local groups, such as Community Land Trusts. 

Alternatively, local authorities could step in and increase their stocks of county farms, neatly reversing the sad case of Trecadwgan, where a community group failed in their bid to buy a 14th century farm from Pembrokeshire County Council.

Wales has no equivalent of either the Scottish land reform legislation or the English Localism Act, and we will need to establish our own principles of land management. 

One starting point could be to find common ground between those who want to preserve traditional family farms, with all they contribute to the local culture and language, and new entrants to farming, often from urban backgrounds. A community food strategy could help to do this. 

Food democracy

There is strong public feeling about the Welsh countryside. Concerns about the sell-off of farms to corporate interests and the proliferation of intensive poultry units are rooted in a deeper concern about our national culture and the natural world. 

A Community Food Strategy must give people the means to ground those concerns in practical action, and a voice into government.  The mechanisms exist: the Future Generations Act provides for communities to influence local authorities via Public Services Boards, and the Environment Act invites collaboration through the Area Statement process. 

The Public Services Boards do not have the power to block the sale of farms for carbon offsetting, any more than they can stop the proliferation of intensive poultry units. 

What they can do, however, is provide a space for community organisations to propose strategies for local land use which could then be picked up by national government. This would allow local and national priorities to be matched.

They could also set up mechanisms by which environmental goods such as carbon sequestration and flood prevention can be rigorously audited to allow for a blend of public and private investment, leaving farmers in control of the land. In Pembrokeshire, the BRICS project is pioneering a blended model for water quality. 

It will not be easy to create these new structures for a new form of governance, but working locally does bring the energy and creativity of communities, and maybe they can do what government cannot.

Jane Powell is a freelance education consultant and Renew Wales coordinator and writes at http://www.foodsociety.wales.

Photo by Beth Macdonald on Unsplash

UK names first food with protected status in post-Brexit scheme – here’s how it will promote sustainable farming

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By Luke Prosser

This article was originally published by The Conversation on August 17, 2021.

Sheep have been grazing the salt marsh landscape of the Gower Peninsula in Wales since medieval times. Today around 3,500 lambs and ewes feed there, where a diet of naturally growing samphire and sorrel gives their meat a unique flavour.

Gower lamb, which is available to buy and eat between June and December, matures more slowly and lives longer than intensively reared lamb, which further adds to the characteristic taste.

That flavour has now been given protected status, providing the farmers of those lambs with membership of an exclusive club. Fellow members include producers of Cornish clotted cream, Melton Mowbray pork pies and champagne, which have long been part of a European scheme which means certain food and drink can only be made in certain places.

Since Brexit, the UK has established its own geographical indication scheme, which closely resembles the EU version. Gower salt marsh lamb is the first product to be added to the new British scheme and must be born, raised and slaughtered within the 19 electoral constituency boundaries that make up the Gower Peninsular. It joins 16 other Welsh products already protected including Anglesey sea salt, Welsh laverbread and Conwy mussels.

My ongoing research is looking into the the contribution to that sector of local food production which is sustainable – environmentally, socially and economically. My colleagues and I are so far finding that locally produced food contributes significantly to making sure rural areas are viable communities. And evidence shows officially recognising and protecting the links between a food product and the area it comes can have significant benefits for that community.

In a competitive market, this protection really counts. The food and drink sector is worth £29bn to the UK economy, so standing out from the crowd has never been more important.

The protected designation of origin (PDO) awarded to Gower salt marsh lamb is reserved for products with the strongest links to the place in which they are made. There is strong evidence that such protections mean better prices for producers. For example, prices of French cheeses with a PDO are higher by an average of 11.5%.

PDOs also help to preserve traditional methods from being driven out by intensive agricultural systems by stipulating a number of requirements on the methods of production. In the Gower’s case this includes recognising the shepherding skills and knowledge of the salt marsh tidal ranges to protect the animals from dangerous rising tides. These are skills which have been developed and passed on through generations.

But it could potentially have a damaging effect on the sale of Welsh lamb from other regions, which is itself protected by a similar but less specific classification, known as a protected geographical indication (PGI).

Again, this is designed to emphasise the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product. The PDO will likely be seen by consumers as a mark that Gower salt marsh lamb ranks even more highly for quality and taste against other Welsh Lamb, which could be a blow for many of Wales’ other sheep farmers currently boosted by their PGI status. At the moment there is a lack of research on the differing perceptions of PDO and PGI categorisation, so we will have to wait and see if this turns out to have any significant impact.

That issue aside, geographical indicators generally work well in protecting consumers against food fraud, through an official process of audit and authentication. They are designed to avoid things like the 2013 scandal in which a number of beef products from across the EU were found to contain varying levels of horse meat.

Check meat

Products with geographical indicators are subjected to extra auditing to ensure authentic products for consumers, with controls conducted by local authority trading standards.

Compliance is monitored, and suspicion of counterfeit products can be reported directly to the enforcement body who have the power to impose fines or imprisonment under various consumer protection laws.

Geographical indicators also promote a sustainable food system by promoting localised approaches to food production. They champion and protect local and traditional production systems that limit intensification and market saturation, and promote high quality and welfare produce.

By supporting low impact practices GIs provide greater stability for those working in the industry, protecting traditional skills and maintaining viable rural livelihoods by placing requirements on production processes

Asked about the importance of designation for its Anglesey Sea Salt (protected by a PDO since 2014) Halen Mon director Alison Wilson told me it was one of the company’s “proudest achievments”. She added: “It gives protection when it’s needed, and status and proof of the particular qualities of our hand-harvested sea salt. It means that we are the only British sea salt to be audited and proved 100% authentic, in a world full of food fraud.”

As dietary habits continue to change, many people are looking to reduce the impact of their diet on the environment. The new status for Gower salt marsh lamb will hopefully give consumers reassurance that they are eating a high welfare, pasture fed animal, which has had a minimal environmental impact over its life. A protected product can help protect the planet.

Luke Prosser is a PhD researcher at Bangor University with a specialism in Food and Drink Geographies and Rural Communities, focusing primarily on Food and Drink supply chains and procurement.

Covid: nutrition is part of the solution

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By Eilish Blade

Overwhelmed by data on Covid-19? Well, Covid fatigue is hard to escape these days, which means that we may be missing an important point. Current strategies to deal with the pandemic are dominated by global health security and a focus on infectious disease. The Lancet however recently challenged this narrow focus, saying that in reality we have a 30-year failure in tackling diet and lifestyle-related disease. We have seen the headlines linking metabolic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and obesity with severe outcomes from Covid. Right now, we have what is now more aptly called a syndemic. A syndemic is the interaction of two categories of disease within specific populations; in this case, SARS-CoV-2 on the one hand, and non-communicable diseases on the other. Crucial to the synergistic power of Covid and metabolic disease is a background of socio-economic inequality.

In case we weren’t aware, the NHS was already  struggling with the costs of these diseases. In 2006–07, diet-related ill health cost the NHS £5.8 billion, the cost of physical inactivity was £0.9 billion and overweight and obesity cost £5.1 billion. The WHO had already predicted that by 2020 chronic disease would account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths worldwide, and that in developing countries 70% of all deaths would be due to diabetes and associated complications. As if the picture isn’t gloomy enough we have a ticking time bomb of our own as Wales has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the UK with a cost of £500 million a year. More than 580,000 people are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and this puts it as the fastest growing health crisis in Wales. 

With all of this in mind, and the data which shows that those with a high Body Mass Index (BMI) and metabolic disease are disproportionately affected by Covid, where is the preventative strategy? Given that it was clear back in May 2020  that poor nutrition was a critical part of the problem, why are we now well into a second wave with no mention of diet and lifestyle? To rub salt into the wounds we also had to endure the “Eat out to Help Out’’ campaign in August, only to later hear Boris Johnson admit that the campaign may have been influential in spreading Covid. Having a McDonald’s for half price was a double whammy.

As the nutrition and obesity expert Dr Zoe Harcombe puts it, “obesity is a natural response to an unnatural diet”. Yes, I’d say that’s it in a nutshell, as real food doesn’t come with a list of ingredients straight from the chemistry lab. As a Registered Nutritional Therapist and an Ambassador for the Real Food Campaign I am passionate about the role of food as medicine and now more than ever,  I find myself on a mission. Real food contributes to a nutrient-dense diet and while eating a wide variety of foods is important for our macro and micro intake, the quality of our food is more important than the quantity. Eat out to Help Out could have taken on a whole new flavour if the focus had been real food and all ultra-processed food and drinks had been off the menu.

So how is Wales responding to its own obesity and metabolic health crisis since Covid? February 2020 saw the launch of the 2020-2022 Delivery Plan as part of Healthy Weight, Healthy Wales strategy only to have to change tack when priorities shifted to Covid. This was understandable initially, but given that we seem to be now running a marathon not a 100m, then surely  diet and lifestyle are crucial? While Healthy Weight, Healthy Wales is on pause, our shopping, cooking and dietary patterns have taken an unprecedented shift since March. An unfortunate consequence of lockdowns is the negative effects on physical and mental health with 63% of people in Britain reporting that they are eating less healthily due to stress, anxiety and tiredness. When nearly half the country is not feeling motivated to eat well, and factoring in the rise in job losses and economic hardship, we are creating the conditions for a rapid growth in obesity and diabetes. Are we going to veer from one crisis to the next?

If ‘’following the science’’ meant just that, then we would be doing something about vitamin D. Deficiency of vitamin D is found in over 80% of hospitalised Covid patients, and it is a key feature in metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance. In one study, severely ill hospitalised Covid patients who received Vitamin D plus the anti-viral hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin saw a 98% reduction in ICU admissions and all were discharged with no complications and no deaths. The simple step of supplementing vitamin D on a national level – which incidentally we should already be doing between the months of October and March, according to government guidelines – and/or testing and supplementing all Covid-19 patients and high-risk-persons, should be implemented as a matter of urgency. Sadly, the NHS says that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that vitamin D supplementation can prevent Covid. This may be true, but vitamin D may still prevent more severe outcomes, and it is by definition necessary for those who are already deficient. Testing and supplementation are inexpensive and could be easily applied through GP surgeries as part of a wider strategy to reduce the burden on the NHS.*

We now know that Covid-19 is a disease which is perpetuated by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body, which can lead to cell and tissue damage. It occurs naturally and plays a role in the ageing process, which is why the elderly are more vulnerable to the virus. A pre-existing state of oxidative stress will only worsen outcomes for those who contract SARS-CoV-2and again the message is that diet and lifestyle are crucial. Increasing our levels of protective antioxidants starts with a nutrient-dense diet and healthy lifestyle. Studies have found lower levels of the master antioxidant glutathione in patients with moderate and severe Covid.

Other nutritional deficiencies have been highlighted. Zinc supplementation has potential as a treatment in the early stages of the virus and during the disease progression, particularly in those with chronic illness and the elderly. More studies are showing that a high dose of vitamin C can improve recovery time in clinical settings. We are not espousing woo-woo and maggot therapy…this is the science!

Political failures must also be acknowledged in the context of this catastrophe and will continue to impact outcomes both from Covid-19 and the management of underlying health conditions.  We have the potential now to really do things differently.  In a statement from the Real Food Campaign, Recovery from Covid-19 comes the following call to action:

‘’The Real Food Campaign UK is adding its voice to the increasing number of concerned citizens and groups from every part of society – doctors, healthcare practitioners and health workers, academics, chefs, regenerative and sustainability-led farmers and small food producers and retailers. We are demanding that the Government and public health agencies take urgent action to recognise and address the impact that food quality and methods of food production have on the health and the quality of life of every UK citizen and ultimately, on our planet.’’

A healthier Wales, with less metabolic disease, would give us some protection from Covid-19 and possible future viruses. Given that nutrient deficiencies and low antioxidant status are risk factors for severe outcomes from Covid, what should we eat? A varied plant-based diet is key to nutrient density, but certain animal foods are also vital, such as oily fish, eggs and liver which can all provide vitamin D and A; without these, we may need to take  supplements. Wales is in a unique position to promote a healthier national diet through the collaborative working encouraged by the Well-being for Future Generations Act. We must focus on nutrient-dense wholefoods which should be produced in ways that support health and be free from chemicals. To make this happen we must bring together health, food and farming, We also need education  at every level on the importance of real food. It is integral to our health.

*Postcript: In Wales, pregnant women, and women with a child under 12 months and children up to four years are entitled to Healthy Start vitamins from your local health board. These vitamins contain 10mcg of vitamin D.

Eilish Blade is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and a member of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council. She has a background in horticulture and permaculture. She is the owner of Blade Clinic and you can read her blogs at www.bladeclinic.co.uk

Nose to tail eating – more nutrients, less waste

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by Eilish Blade

Eilish Blade

Eating less meat is a core principle of a sustainable diet, but we tend to forget about offal, the meat that comes from an animal’s organs which is rich in nutrients. As an MSc student in Nutritional Therapy, I’m interested in health outcomes and the nutrient density of food Could. “nose to tail” eating be the next step?

Eating nose to tail requires a shift in mindset and dietary patterns. Offal from intensively reared animals is not a healthy option given the levels of antibiotic usage, over-feeding, excess omega 6 from grain feeding which causes inflammation and the high production of stress hormones. Sourcing offal from grass-fed and ideally, organic animals, means forming direct relationships with our local butchers to understand where animals are raised, how they are fed and where they are slaughtered?

I am coming at this from the point of research, but also because I want to make this part of my weekly diet for myself and my family. Luckily, in Cardiff I have Riverside Community Market which stocks a range of offal and bones on request, and a fantastic family-run butchers in Canton, Oriel Jones, whose premium free range meats are supplied by both their farm in Carmarthenshire and other ethically approved farming partners. Oriel Jones’ proprietor and front of house is Shaun, who is a passionate advocate for animal welfare, the environment and creating a nutritious product.

Nose to tail eating has become one of our hot topics to discuss and it’s heartening to hear that their own faggots and liver pate may soon be available, along with liver, heart, kidney, oxtail and marrow bones. In turn, I love to share my knowledge from a nutritional approach: how the Inuits prevented scurvy by eating the adrenal glands of an animal, which have a high vitamin C content, or what makes liver the most nutrient-dense food.

There is nothing new of course about eating the whole animal and historically many different cultures integrated it into their diet. Wales has a legacy of nose to tail eating, with recipes which have their roots in working communities and post-war austerity. While finances were largely driving resourcefulness in the kitchen, research from the mid-1930s by Dr Weston A Price had already identified the health benefits from consuming the whole animal. His studies identified traditional cultures untouched by modern refined foods, eating whole plant foods and the whole animal, which had no signs of chronic disease or tooth decay. His analysis showed that traditional diets were significantly higher than modern diets in the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, which are found primarily in animal sources and especially organ meat.

Modern society is characterised by the double burden of too many macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and protein) and not enough micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). This means “empty calories” which contribute to obesity and a plethora of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, CVD, cancer and osteoporosis. We should certainly eat more whole plant foods and reduce or eliminate processed and refined foods, but it’s important to consider offal. Organ meat, cartilage and bones bring a much improved synergy of amino acids plus a wider vitamin and mineral profile to a meal. Small amounts of both muscle meat and offal, rather than an emphasis of one to the exclusion of the other, gives a good nutritional balance according to epidemiological studies of traditional diets.

We are not accustomed to the sight of organ meats and other forms of offal. The Eatwell Plate highlights lean meats like beef, turkey and chicken as healthy options which provide protein and certain micronutrients, while lowering saturated fats. An optimum amount of meat is defined as 70g per day but if the focus shifted to include offal there would be a net increase in overall nutrient density. The easiest place to start would be liver, which for a percentage of the population may be an important source of vitamin A.

Liver has an incredible range of nutrients such as the B vitamins, specifically B12 and folate, iron, zinc, copper, choline, selenium, and polyunsaturated fatty acids DHA and arachidonic acid. It is a rich source of vitamin A in the form of retinol and has some vitamin D, the actual levels depending on how the animal is raised. Retinol is necessary for healthy vision, fertility, immune health, thyroid function and childhood mortality, and more recent studies show protection against type 2 diabetes and regulation of blood glucose.

Retinol is the animal source of vitamin A. The precursor of vitamin A is also available through fruit and vegetables in the form of carotenoids, with the most abundant being beta-carotene. This must be converted to the active form, retinol, in a process which is controlled by a series of enzymes. And herein lies a problem, because recent studies have identified mutations in the family of BC01 genes which control these enzymes. These genetic impairments are estimated to affect 45% of the population, making it difficult for them to convert beta-carotene to retinol. This may be one reason why certain individuals thrive on a vegan or vegetarian diet and others simply don’t.

If two portions a week of meat were replaced with 50-100g of liver, it would supply the RDA for vitamin A, and many other nutrients. This is dependent on age, sex and individual requirements like pregnancy and breast feeding. Therefore, it demonstrates how we can consider liver within the parameters of a sustainable diet which sits comfortably within dietary guidelines.

Liver can be part of a model for sustainable eating in Wales through simple meals like liver and mash, or faggots and onion gravy. It can also be incorporated into family meals like shepherd’s pie and Bolognese sauce. I’ve found I can add approximately 200g of lamb’s liver to either recipe without my children detecting it.

Eating nose to tail is also good for reducing food waste. Here in Cardiff, thanks to the work of Lia Moutselou and Rebecca Clark, the Wasteless Supper pop-up restaurant has collaborated with local businesses to showcase sustainable eating practices such as nose-to-tail eating. Trotters, tails and tongues are still a rare sight in most high street restaurants and this is part of the challenge, along with the need for new culinary skills. Slow cooking is one of the best ways to make the most of cheap cuts and offal. One of my successes to date has been slow cooked, curried sheep’s heart but like all new ventures there have been a few failures along the way.

Nose to tail eating needs more study. It’s an area where research is lacking as most dietary models have not included offal, being largely based on muscle meat. This is something we really need to acknowledge in the backlash against meat. Offal is an important part of a sustainable diet.

Eilish Blade is a qualified Naturopath and practitioner in various types of bodywork based in Cardiff. Currently she is studying a MSc in Nutritional Therapy at Worcester university. She also has a BA in Green Studies with a background in both horticulture and permaculture.