Food – the thing that keeps us alive & which is essential to our survival, much like the oxygen we breath.

Food is something that most of us in the UK, and other more developed countries, give very little regard too. Cost seems to be the main driver of our food choices and as a nutritionist, I’m constantly confronted with the barrier that “healthy food is too expensive”. But what still baffles me is that, although food – something that is so vital to our living – NEEDS to be cheap, most of us are more than happy to spend money on the best phones, newest Nike trainers and large flat screen TVs. These are not essential for our health and are certainly not essential to our survival and in the UK less than 10% of our wages goes on food.

It’s no wonder that our desire for cheap produce means that the food we are getting is not doing our health any favours – often lacking in real nutrition and, as the new Guardian exposure shows, also putting us at risk from serious contamination from bacteria such as Campylobacter.

Cheap food is also not doing our animals any favours, which is a completely different and even more horrifying story.

17 million chickens are slaughtered each week and some supermarkets then value these birds at £2.50 for a whole chicken. This means that the process of slaughtering has to be fast and intensive, which isn’t good for anyone – humans, animals or the environment.

To me, this new story is not a surprise, but for some of you I hope it helps you to think about buying better food, even if that means spending a little more on the substance that keep you alive and in good health and a little less on other, less essential products.

To see the article and video from The Guardian follow the link below:

Revealed: the dirty secrets of the UK’s poultry industry