have you ever seen so much mainstream media discussion about food? You can’t open a newspaper these days without coming across an article or two (my newspaper this morning featured three full pages), never mind the increasing amount of radio air play and television coverage.
Much has been made about how supermarkets are predominantly promoting processed fat, sugar and salt products to customers at the expense of healthier fresh produce. If we were to be cynical, we would ask, why should we expect supermarkets to be involved in public health issues? Like all businesses, their aim is to make money - and when comparing profit margins, those of fresh fruit and vegetables are probably much less attractive compared to those from processed and packaged goods.
But are supermarkets the best businesses to promote health on the part of the government? And why are they the ones apparently expected to take steps towards improving the public’s diet? What would be the wholesale and retail market traders’ motives for wanting to improve public diet? Profit too, of course, would feature, but then it just so happens that they are dealing in the right goods - quality, fresh fruit and vegetables.
No-one should expect any trader to act as a charity to promote healthy eating, but if it is their core business (or only business) then they have obviously got a vested interest in promoting it. Once again, that is lucky for them; they are in the right place at the right time. We need to capitalise on a situation that can only be good for everyone. It’s not every day that you get a win-win situation like that.
So one has to ask, why aren’t governments giving greater recognition and support to wholesale or retail markets - usually viewed as public services - to take up the challenge? As the sector’s representative bodies, WUWM and national associations such as the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) are in a strong position to help spread the message through their membership, actively promoting the healthy eating - and value for money - agenda to the buying public, since it is in the traders’ commercial interests to do so. It would pay the government to forge stronger links with them.
Wholesale and retail markets and their associations have been active in supporting healthy eating and school education programmes for some time. They are more than willing to lend that expertise and ensure their involvement where opportunities exist, for example in the EU Fruit into Schools scheme. WUWM feels strongly that the role and benefits of food wholesale and retail markets should be more formally recognised by the EC. This willingness to be involved is currently on offer to Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture and rural affairs.