The Food Briefing: February 2021

CanCook, the food poverty charity founded by Robbie Davison, have released an open letter to Marcus Rashford, urging him to concentrate on health and dignity, whilst calling out hunger and food waste charity FareShare. CanCook focus on healthy, freshly cooked food, suggesting that money isn’t the answer to food poverty, also stating that food banks and food waste distribution are poor solutions. Read more here.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are being linked to increased incidences of Type-2 diabetes in a new study of UK citizens. Over the course of five years, twenty thousand participants were tracked by the UK Biobank, which showed a consistently increased risk of Type-2 diabetes for those with higher intakes of UPFs. This contributes to a growing body of evidence linking this class of food to negative health outcomes. Read more here.

Recently banned Bee-killing insecticides have been given exemptions for use on sugar beet in this year, in response to yellow virus threatening the 2021 crop. The effects of these neonicotinoid insecticides have long been criticised by environmentalists, as one teaspoon is enough to kill enough bees to fill 4 long-wheel-base lorries. Meanwhile, the NFU welcomes the decision as a chance to rescue farmers from an unprecedented threat. Read more here and here.

Find more food issues-related information from @GavinWren on Twitter.