Blog by member Fleur MacDonald – http://www.theomnivore.co.uk/
Worries about the production, supply and consumption of food are central to the modern age – intrinsically part of Western guilt over the legacy of colonialism, the consequences of global warming and the controversy that surrounds the distribution of Aid Relief and its impact. Though it may be irrevocably associated with harrowing images of swollen bellies and African flies; the 1984 Buerk report for the BBC and the faintly messianic figure of Bob Geldof, the media circus of famine is, in fact, hardly a recent phenomenon. As early as the 1920s, the Save the Children Fund was imploring the well-to-do to part with their cash by screening – before the latest Chaplin or Keaton film – trailers showing rescued children alongside with ‘here’s what I made earlier’ shots of famished victims.
The Areté Club “Feasts and Famines” evening, however, was remarkably more pragmatic. The speakers – rather than going for the emotional jugular favoured by fund raising campaigns – each framed the topic in a perspective which receives far less attention in the public eye. Indeed they focused of the root affects of food supply and distribution.
Jeffrey Currie, Global Head of Goldman Sachs’ Commodities Research, discussed the economic and agricultural issues concerned with food supply. Simply put, there are 3 main types of grain in the world; wheat is European, corn American and soya bean is mainly grown in Asia and South America. That’s why beef (fed on corn) in the US tastes different from European steak and the US obesity epidemic is partly aggravated by the consumption of corn fructose.
Corn and wheat have little problem with supply; both grow easily and supply is safe guarded by stable governance. Production of soya bean is going to have to be increased to keep up with demand; Brazil seems to be the largest and most reliable source. So if supply is not such a problem, whence the fluctuation in price?
Food speculators have been seen as the Machiavellian instigators of variations in food prices, but Currie was more sanguine. Hikes in food prices may mirror the predictions of investors but these in turn follow US weather and crop reports. Who is to blame? The chicken and egg cliché seem more than apt here. It is interesting that in a world of pre-packages foods, organic takeaways and supermarket aisles, we are still constrained not only by market dynamics but agricultural realities.
From supply to distribution, Professor David Keen’s speech was centred on food shortage. Rather than a result of nature’s imbalances, he spoke of famine primarily as a political tool. Looking in particular at Africa, many famines became entrenched because of a deliberate governmental policy for depopulation. Land is freed up by mass death due to malnutrition and – as resources become scarcer – the subsequent and intentional exacerbation of ethnic tensions. Oil rich land becomes available to repay crippling foreign debt and finance the vicious circle of corruption. Not only do NGO targets and systems distort the benefit and impact of aid but their focus on the weather and its capriciousness obfuscates the original political problem.
With our third speaker, the fare became lighter but just as filling. Andy Hayler, a food critic, put on a veritable taster menu of topics, touching on the culinary trends, globalisation and the impact of the Internet on food criticism. His verbal amuse-bouches included reflections on the start of the restaurant trade after 1789 and how, as French aristocrats lost their heads, their chefs found themselves – and their chopping boards – unemployed. With so many of the Bourgeoisie, who couldn’t afford to employ them permanently, to feed, cooks set up shop.
Indeed it’s now a global phenomenon as Japan recently equalled France’s collection of Michelin stars; Tokyo nurturing fourteen 3-starred restaurants compared with Paris’ ten. The world is becoming a smaller place as miso vinaigrette dresses our rocket, fusion becomes conventional and a chef can read the review of a restaurant on the other side of the world within minutes of the amateur critic being served. Indeed the democratisation of food criticism caused by the advent of the internet is perhaps the biggest change currently happening in terms of how we foodies judge what’s on our plate.
All in all another Areté evening that provided much food for thought!
