In 1950, less than 1% of the UK population was clinically obese; today, that figure stands at 28%. This is not because we have suffered a massive collapse of willpower, but because we live in a different food environment from our predecessors. Modern industrial production methods have created an abundance of cheap, unhealthy food of a kind that we are biologically programmed to crave. Because junk food is easy to sell, companies spend huge amounts developing and marketing it. We eat more of it, the market expands, manufacturers spend more on it, we eat more … and so on. We have become trapped in a junk food cycle.
In my new book, Ravenous, I am on a mission: to help anyone with a stake in the food system (which is every single one of us) understand how it actually works, why it is making us sick and destroying our environment, and what we can do to change it. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing family friendly recipes that link to the key themes of the book, starting with breaking this cycle. My healthy versions of junk-food classics have been tested extensively on children: first, on my three kids; and then on thousands of children whose lunches have been transformed by the charity Chefs in Schools. They are also cheap and easy to make.
