Over the past years, what people eat has changed drastically as a result of globalisation. Even the famed Mediterranean diet has made way for the increased availability of unhealthy and more processed foods. 

A supermarket centric and multicultural society has introduced an increased choice of food and subculture trends, overloading the consumer with a wide range of marketed diets and nutrition. In taking care of our well-being, properly labelled quality food which is healthy and clean must be offered at a fair and affordable price.

It is a fact that those who do not have a liveable income or lead a very busy lifestyle are at risk of cardiovascular disease as they do not eat healthily.

The last Survey on Income and Living Conditions for Malta has indicated that 26,000 people in Malta are risking their nutritional health as every second day, they currently cannot afford a meal including chicken, meat, fish or, at least, a vegetarian equivalent.

Moreover, our custom has remained the same. We still prefer quantity over quality when it comes to eating and most of us lack exercise. We are declared champions as having one of the highest overweight and obesity rates in Europe. This has increased the costs of our healthcare services, as morbidity is on the increase.

All these consequences are preventable. This calls for a retrograde nutritional cultural shift complimented by a positive shift in health promotion and a market that protects the well-being of the consumer.

Healthy and clean foods must be favoured. Less salt, added sugars and saturated fats are a must, as is more consumption of fresh produce and less of processed meats, topped by a more moderate consumption of food.

Our situation is further compounded as Malta lacks food security and is a water-stressed nation.

Climate change and population dynamics have complicated the issue, as have our limited land resource and the rapid decline of agricultural farming and animal husbandry. We have thus become highly dependent on food and water imports.

Since the turn of the century, supermarkets and food stores have become the primary source of foreign food and drink sales. They offer attractively packed, displayed, branded and easy-to-buy products, which are often unhealthy.

It is because of this aggressive marketing strategy, our small scale production of fresh farming produce, and the outdated and uncoded sale of fresh produce still practised at the Ta’ Qali wholesale vegetable market, which gives little return to our farmers and the non-existence of a middle food industry, which have brought us into our state of unsustainability.It is often stated that we are what we eat.

Food additives, colouring agents and preservatives in food processes and manufacture, the use of GMOs, pesticides and insecticides in agriculture, and medicinal use in animal and fowl rearing and in fish farming, are contributing to ill effects on our health.

What we eat is of consequence to everyone

It is high time to be more conscious and we all learn to look at what we eat and become mindful of where it comes from.

By far the most worrying is the use of pesticides and insecticides, and we must look at their levels in our foods. Conscious of their ill effects, the Democratic Party has always favoured stricter controls. Malta needs the set-up of a fully-equipped and well-resourced food testing lab to protect the consumer and we must stop being dependent on sending certain food tests abroad. The Democratic Party will remain a prime mover towards the banning of glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. Their ill- effects on health are toxic and carcinogenic.

This also means considering pesticide usage on both the national and international stage, which is why Democratic Party MEP candidates are committed to actively discuss pesticide reform at EU level.

The recent process for a National Action Plan on Pesticides must go farther than EU regulations, which are unfortunately too weak at the moment, and do not take enough precautions. We must stop taking such risks in public health and we must be exemplary leaders in this field.

It is critical that we take the full picture into account. The diagnosis is clear. We must therefore adopt a holistic approach towards regulating what we eat and what we produce on a personal, societal and governmental level.

It has to be an all-in government and society approach with the involvement of all stakeholders, from local councils to consumer associations, as what we eat is of consequence to everyone.

Godfrey Farrugia is leader of the Democratic Party.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

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