Are all the cows mad? Lorraine Craig Head of Research and Education Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) With Debbie Janes Research assistant

Le Menu Apéritif Who is cooking the books? Entrée Poached egg with Salmonella

Apéritif

Who is cooking the books? Food preferences depend on previous events Lack of academic attention in the UK until recently Eating has been taken for granted Food preparation was women's work Indifference to culinary culture

Small shop or supermarket? Retailercumulative share of market Tesco Sainsbury Asda Safeway By 2003 the cumulative share of the supermarket was 65% source Guardian Unlimited

Entrée Poached egg with Salmonella Government minister, Mrs Edwina Curry states that eating eggs can cause salmonella infection Mrs Curry loses her job Egg sales by 50% in 4 weeks

Le Plat: Beef with mad cow jus Mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) Human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)

Beef with mad cow jus 1986 first diagnosis of BSE 1988 all cows in UK with BSE will be destroyed 3.7 million cows destroyed 1993 epidemic slows 1996 first announcement of human vCJD MacDonalds bans British beef EU ban British beef English go across the channel and eat beef instead

Why was there no mad cow disease in France?

Chicken with bid flu vinagrette Between Aug 2003 and January m birds have been killed

Lamb with ‘foot and mouth’ flambée

An economic crisis The virus can be carried by transporting animals or in the wind 2001 was last major outbreak

The army were called in to deal with the animals – the media had fun with the politicians

Four million animals were killed and burnt

Land was temporarily destroyed by chemicals used for burning

Movement of people and animals were restricted

Tourism in the UK was devastated

Not just sheep… but pigs and cows were affected

Fromage – cholesterol with added salt? 1997 Food Standards Agency introduced post – BSE Increase in number of government campaigns to influence diet Public opinion brought food quality to top of the agenda Would this have happened in France?

Fromage – cholesterol with added salt? Move to local products, farmers markets, natural, fresh, and homemade The appellation contrôlée of France? Farmers see quality as a means of creating a new demand or adding value to their food

Less salt? £4million campaign by government for less salt in the diet Health campaigners argue salt causes heart attacks Are some of us more susceptible than others?

So what do Britons eat? ‘Roast beef is still the national culinary pride…served at midday on Sunday with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, horseradish, gravy and mustard (Learn English, 2003)

Dessert? Local food, fewer chemicals…. vs the landscape Local raspberries and strawberries grown without chemicals Labelling with farmers name in national stores such as Marks and Spencer

Strawberry (or raspberry) fields forever? Not when it's tasteless 'junk fruit' grown in ugly 'polytunnels' on my doorstep, Guardian writer Monty Don (July 2004) Hop fields are destroyed to grow strawberries in ‘polytunnels’ – bring in more income for the farmer Tourism brings in more money than agriculture

Social class vs income vs geographical region? What influences food habits? Gender – women vs men? Age – do younger adults take note of what they are eating? Are there fashionable foods through the media? Bourdieu argues Class is important in diet Low income families – can they afford to be choosy? Have they been taught to cook fresh vegetables?

Geographical It is not safe to eat meat in the UK… but go outside the UK and eat beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs Insert image of Britain a nation of foodies from independent article

Petit Fours : the future? UK farmers have finally taken to the streets to protest against government intervention After the recent government ban on fox-hunting will the English raise edible horses? Will we have a meal of vitamin pills only as a result of obesity?

Or will we all go fishing instead?