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“Big Food” and Children’s Health
Garrath Williams (Lancaster University, UK) If we’re concerned about children’s diets, we need to ask: Where food/drinks come from? What pressures there are on children to consume different sorts of food/drinks And this means we need to talk about power Parents and to some extent schools obviously have some power in this regard But in terms of what’s available to them to buy, and in terms of pressures that surround parents and families, we need to consider wider factors We need to talk about power – specifically the power of the large organisations that make-up our food supply systems Power is not a simple thing – it is never the power to do “whatever one wants” - It is always the power to do/achieve some things, but not others One way that corporations often present themselves Able to supply what we want (powerful) Powerless to do otherwise (our servants, powerless) I will suggest a different picture Able to reshape food and drink markets around a particular model – food processing, very well able to supply/market those foods Powerless to do otherwise
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Why don’t we see cabbages advertised?
Illustration is from a recent Estonian public health campaign: National Institute for Health Development ( – the headline reads “Go Green!” (in Estonian and Russian). My thanks to Kelli Lehto for bringing this to my attention. “Go green!” – Estonian public health campaign (
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Basis of modern capitalism and globalisation
Corporations Basis of modern capitalism and globalisation Usual assumption: they belong to “free markets” But they depend on legal charters Large organisations Control their own assets Over long-term Capital-intensive production They are ‘Bodies politic and corporate’
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Capital-intensive production applied to food and drink
“Big food” Capital-intensive production applied to food and drink Factories, research, distribution networks, supply chains, trademarks... Dominant role in food and drink markets Largest manufacturing sector in EU Results: Acute price pressures on farmers Food processing Marketing of processed foods / drinks
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The hourglass of corporate food systems
Farmers (c. 10 million) Consumers (c. 500 million) Inputs: corn, wheat, oils, sugars, factory farmed meat/dairy 5 manufacturers > 50% food/drink sales 5 supermarkets > 60% of market Corporations Figures are approximate. See Eurostat Farm Structure Statistics ( and DG Agriculture and Rural Development EU Agricultural Economic Briefs No. 4 ( Compare also: The supply chain ‘bottleneck’ in Europe, from Jan-Willem Grievink ‘The changing face of the global food industry’ - OECD conference, The Hague , Reprinted in Ethical Corporation “The Sustainability of European Food Supply Chains,” at p. 99 Outputs: processed foods & drinks
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Whole foods Hard or impossible to brand More perishable Supply often seasonal/unreliable Few profit opportunities
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Hard or impossible to brand More perishable
Whole foods Processed foods Hard or impossible to brand More perishable Supply often seasonal/unreliable Few profit opportunities Packaging permits branding Trademarks = artificial monopolies Relentless marketing Based on a few commodities from industrial agriculture Processed for long shelf-life = low water/fibre/micro-nutrients Processed for sensory appeal = high in salt, sugar, fat Calorie dense Processed foods: Inherently less healthy Overconsumption encouraged Bottom line: corporate business models push unhealthy products
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Can work where corporate interests align with consumers’ But:
Self-regulation Often promoted – e.g. EU Platform for action on diet, physical activity and health Can work where corporate interests align with consumers’ But: These foods not in consumers’ health interests Price / market share pressures acute in food sector Hard for consumers to avoid these foods Children especially vulnerable
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Self-regulation “No advertising for food and beverage products to children under the age of twelve on TV, print and internet, except for products which fulfil specific nutritional criteria based on accepted scientific evidence and/or applicable national and international dietary guidelines.” E.g. “EU Pledge” on marketing to children Not children – just children under the age of 12 Not meaningful criteria, but overly lax ones Not actually followed anyhow
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10% of products (29 out of 281 products marketed in Germany) meet World Health Organization criteria for a balanced diet Foods and drinks marketed to children by companies that have signed the EU Pledge Foodwatch Kindermarketing für Lebensmittel
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Big food as powerful Shape and reshape food / drink markets New infrastructures, technologies, products Marketing reshapes consumer preferences Power over suppliers Policy / ideological influence
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Big food as powerful …and powerless
Shape and reshape food /drink markets New infrastructures, technologies, products Marketing reshapes consumer preferences Power over suppliers Policy / ideological influence Can’t stop marketing to children Can’t stop pushing processed foods Can’t impose meaningful self-regulation Can’t talk constructively about regulation Mounting loss of credibility
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Regulation in the cause of freedom
Corporations depend on state charters Corporate markets promote unhealthy foods Corporations have no choice in this Regulation is not state interference in free markets Instead, enables market actors to respect public health
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Corporations are not ‘free market’ actors
Summary Corporations are not ‘free market’ actors Their strength is capital-intensive production Applied to food, this means: Hourglass shape of food supply chain Processed foods, less healthy than whole foods If we care about children’s health, we must regulate corporate activities more tightly Regulation is not just about restrictions – it can enable respect for children’s health
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Thank you
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