Do you remember the old idiom: ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’? Well, perversely, there may be something of value to come out of the global food price hikes that we are experiencing.

Though a terrible situation, it has meant that consumers are starting to wake up and, even better, they are starting to think and ask questions. We may finally be seeing an end to the last two decades or more of incessant zombie-like food buying, as the veil of blissful ignorance and apathy slowly but surely disperses. Personally, I have to admit that I couldn’t be happier about that.

Another spin-off is the increased political attention being paid to food products and food distribution. Not only is there more constructive debate on food safety, quality, economy and security, but now there is also greater demand from decision-makers, the media and the public in general to be better informed - an urge to understand more thoroughly exactly how the food chain works. Despite the economic challenges facing the world, it would seem that 2008 will be an interesting period to be working in food wholesale and retail markets.

As you will undoubtedly be aware, the European Parliament has now charged the European Commission’s Competition Directorate General with investigating suspected power abuses by the larger retailers in the sector. Entities like the World Bank are publicly admitting that some of their agricultural policies of the past 15-20 years were wrong or inadequate. These are now undergoing, one would expect, radical and beneficial change.

Food debates are also taking place, not just within vast numbers of national and local public authorities, but also in the global media. One recent event of note was the BBC’s World Debate, entitled ‘Food, who pays the price?’, which, if you missed it, can be viewed at http://www.ifad.org/media/video/food/. Additionally, books are being written that once upon a time would never have made it out of hard-back edition, or be read by people outside the industry, and are suddenly becoming of mainstream interest.

Here in the Netherlands, we are also seeing increased attention being paid to directly informing consumers, through both TV and the internet. One example of this is how Dutch food and consumer product safety information is now being presented on www.weetwatjeeet.nl (which translates to ‘know what you eat’). This website details the exact pesticide levels - and level of health risk - to be found in vast quantities of the most common fresh produce sold by the largest retailers in the country.

So, yes, it is an interesting time to be in wholesale and retail food markets. We are being given increased chances to demonstrate the positive impact that food market authorities and their traders have, when allowed, within the food chain. This is our time to clearly detail the social and economic benefits our markets provide to local communities, and detail the role of markets in building effective local food economies, in supporting local producers and independent food retail businesses and, of course, in empowering the consumer in terms of the quality, accessibility, price, availability and diversity of the fresh food products on offer to them.