Quietly In The Background...
Quietly in the background there is something else going in which will have a profound impact on the health of people in the UK.
On Monday amendments to a bill which would have secured clear legal status for the UK’s existing food and farming standards were rejected in the House of Commons.
Post-Brexit - and without proper safeguards on future trade deals - we risk seeing an increase in food imports that have been produced to standards which would be illegal in the UK.
Amongst these potential imports in to the UK food market is the dreaded chlorine washed chicken, hormone injected beef and residues of pesticides and chemicals - on vegetables and grains - which are banned in the EU due to their risks to our health.
The threat of these food imports on public health, animal welfare and the global environment is real and imminent.
The government has suggested clear labelling so consumers can make a choice whether they want to buy these imported foods. However, this ignores the huge proportion of food eaten outside of the home which is not labeled.
Labelling will also bring us further in to a two tier food system in the UK with lots of unhealthy foods available at the lowest prices and healthy foods more and more difficult or expensive to get.
Final hopes are on the House of Lords to make last-minute changes to the bill in the meantime here's what you can do -
Share the petition with friends and family
Write to your MP asking them to ensure all food imports are produced to the same high standards as UK farms
Choose where you shop wisely. For most of my shopping I use Riverford & Wild By Nature
I would like to put together a list of food suppliers/producers as a resource we can all share. Please send over your favourites to Georgia - admin@debbielewis.co.uk
Debbie
