Photo: Gary H/Flickr.
There are few things that engage the public debate as much as food. The reason, I suppose, is simple: We all use it, and we can’t live without it.
Every now and then there is a food alert about the risks of something we eat. But right now a series of programs on the national radio has stirred up feelings in another way. The series is called “Matens pris” (The price of food) and examines the hidden costs of our food.
Eating more for less
Now the ordinary Swede spends just a little more than 10 percent of his or her housekeeping budget on food. And our consumption continues to rise. Never before have we eaten so much and paid so little.
But as the programs show this has consequences in other parts of the world.
Two reporters have gone to Brazil to more closely observe how soy beans are produced. The beans are then sold to Sweden and become protein rich food for milk- and meat cows. The reporters found that many pesticides that have been banned in Sweden for 30 years are used in these plantations, causing diseases and deaths of thousands of workers.
Reacting on the internet
This has made many radio listeners react, and call for Swedish importers to make greater demands on good production conditions. For example a Facebook group called “More expensive food now!” has gathered over 1000 members in a short time. – It’s all about making it obvious what consequences our choices have. This is not a knowledge that people are born with. We have to be informed about how our food is produced, says the founder of the group, Linus Källander, to the agricultural business magazine ATL.
Report about the links
At almost the same time as these radio programs, the organisation Swedwatch that writes reports on Swedish business relations with developing countries, has come with a new report about the links between Swedish importers of Brazilian meat and soy beans and producers that cut down the Amazon rain forest. The English summary of the report can be downloaded here.
