So we've all been following Jamie Oliver's campaign for a sugar tax on sugary drinks for a while.
As a pastry chef, I find that promotions and advertising on sweets and chocolate is unfair. Not only is it undervaluing sugary food, but as a result artisanal products have to be lowered in price in order to attract consumers. It's a shame to think that bakers and passionate professionals are forced to undervalue their products for the profit of these huge industries. In addition, journalists and nutritionists are attacking the consumption of sugar and unavoidably, artisans are getting stick for people eating too many sweet foods as well.
I see that in the UK we now pay for plastic bags which is a brilliant initiative to start thinking about ways to reduce the amount of plastic that is thrown away and to help the planet a little. However, this is a bit of a smack in the face when you open up a bag of sweets which are individually wrapped in plastic. Surely they should add a penny a bag?
Jamie Oliver's sugar tax is a good way of helping the NHS financially cure people who are victims of obesity and diabetes. Jamie believes that the amount of teaspoons of sugar should be displayed on bottles, another good way of controlling the amount of sugar we drink. And perhaps if there were fewer promotions on kinder buenos and digestive biscuits people would start developing a palate for less sugary and more refined chocolate? We'd all be thinner and have less of a complex, the amount of plastic that pollutes the earth would be reduced and it would also open up a small path for those artisans who believe that a bit of sugar makes the world a sweeter place.
A new article in the Evening Standard written by Rosund Urwin on 22 October outlined, very rightly, how the nation is addicted to sugar. In "A tax alone won't curb the nation's sugar addiction" Urwin highlights how the sheer amount of promotions on sweets and chocolate makes anyone tempted to overload. She's right, it's a lot cheaper to eat Maltesers for breakfast than fruit salad and nourishing yourself on Drumsticks and Double Lollies has never been so easy. For a kid who gets a fiver pocket money a week and does maths at school knows that a bag of Flakes a day can get you through the week Monday- Friday until your parents give you some more nutritional snacks on the weekend. (Or not.)
Now, on returning to the capital after a long time abroad in France and in Italy, I must admit that this is one of the first things I noticed as I walked into the supermarket: milk chocolate and sweets everywhere. Sorry Britain but, what the * is going on here? Why is there such an abundance?
Sweet and chocolate promotions
Being away, I learnt that the Italians and the French are very much into their "sugar." The French have pain au chocolat for breakfast and dessert is on the lunch menu every day and there is a boulangerie selling artisanal patisseries on every corner where kids rush to for l'heure du gouter (tea-time.) Typically, Italians have a gelato a day and espresso with biscuits for breakfast.
Now, on returning to the capital after a long time abroad in France and in Italy, I must admit that this is one of the first things I noticed as I walked into the supermarket: milk chocolate and sweets everywhere. Sorry Britain but, what the * is going on here? Why is there such an abundance?
Sweet and chocolate promotions
Vs "healthy food" on lower less viewable aisle.
Being away, I learnt that the Italians and the French are very much into their "sugar." The French have pain au chocolat for breakfast and dessert is on the lunch menu every day and there is a boulangerie selling artisanal patisseries on every corner where kids rush to for l'heure du gouter (tea-time.) Typically, Italians have a gelato a day and espresso with biscuits for breakfast.
As a pastry chef, I find that promotions and advertising on sweets and chocolate is unfair. Not only is it undervaluing sugary food, but as a result artisanal products have to be lowered in price in order to attract consumers. It's a shame to think that bakers and passionate professionals are forced to undervalue their products for the profit of these huge industries. In addition, journalists and nutritionists are attacking the consumption of sugar and unavoidably, artisans are getting stick for people eating too many sweet foods as well.
I see that in the UK we now pay for plastic bags which is a brilliant initiative to start thinking about ways to reduce the amount of plastic that is thrown away and to help the planet a little. However, this is a bit of a smack in the face when you open up a bag of sweets which are individually wrapped in plastic. Surely they should add a penny a bag?
Jamie Oliver's sugar tax is a good way of helping the NHS financially cure people who are victims of obesity and diabetes. Jamie believes that the amount of teaspoons of sugar should be displayed on bottles, another good way of controlling the amount of sugar we drink. And perhaps if there were fewer promotions on kinder buenos and digestive biscuits people would start developing a palate for less sugary and more refined chocolate? We'd all be thinner and have less of a complex, the amount of plastic that pollutes the earth would be reduced and it would also open up a small path for those artisans who believe that a bit of sugar makes the world a sweeter place.
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