The "Nationality" label of food and why its not enough

Having lived in a number of countries, both in Europe and further afield, I am always intrigued at how  fresh produce sold in supermarkets emphasise the country of origin and in doing so establish a sense of nationality on an inanimate object.

 

I know that to some extent this is all part of the marketing strategy to sell such products at a premium by establishing a link between the country and the products we buy, and by doing so, creating a logical reason in our minds on why we should pay what we do for certain items.

 

It is also interesting to see that to some extent emphasising the "nationality" of products seems to "make it alright" with what we have just purchased ,without really questioning whether this does indeed deliver a better quality product. In particular fresh meat and produce nationality labels,  play a prime position in the way products are marketed and packaged in  our everyday lives.

 

Whilst there is nothing wrong with promoting products along the  lines of nationality , this does pose the question on whether we are doing enough as consumers to question the quality of the products we buy, and in particular under which conditions these are reared or harvested?

 Hence Danish Bacon, Swiss Chocolate ,French wines ,  Dutch Tomatoes , British Beef .. .all conjure up certain images of what we as consumers "assume"  a particular product should deliver in terms of quality and taste. what it does not do, is provide any clear evidence on how this product has been reared or grown, how it has been transformed and what bi-products were used in rearing or growing the said item.

 

As consumers tastes have changed , so the need to link a countries nationality to a product seems to have been reinforced, but rather than providing more guarantees to consumers, this has actually muddied the debate somewhat on the ability of consumers to track their products from farm to food hall.

 

In the wake  of the now infamous horse meat scandal , and the BSE scare of the early 90's control it is evident that emphasising a products "nationality" is not enough. What is needed is more debate and better investment in our ability to track our food production, from origin to table.

 

Growers and producers have all been quick to jump on the "nutritional" bandwagon in terms of displaying the vitamins, fat, sugar and sodium content of their products sold, but when it comes to how these products are grown, describing the nature of the supply chain, and being able to track the history of how the product ends on the display cabinets of our local supermarkets seems  still a cloak and dagger affair , at the best of time. Yes we have the "organic " and "fair trade" labels, which have added some clarity to some of the products we purchase, but clarity that comes at a price , and really do not address the needs of the majority, who have to live on tight food budgets and cannot always afford those items marked as "organic". If anything, it should be for the sake of the most vulnerable in our society that we establish a clear audit trail on all the food we grow, produced and transform.

 

I think its high time we as consumers began to look behind the "nationality" label and demand from those that contribute to our sustainability a more responsible tracking measurement of where our food comes from.