D. Bashir: "We need bold public policies that put limits to unhealthy food advertising"

"If the food that nourishes the body and the land is expensive, that means the system is badly designed. We cannot leave our health in the hands of those with purchasing power."

 

"Products wrapped in green packagings and with words like “natural” or “bio” are actually hiding intensive production models, work exploitation and severe environmental impacts."

-Regarding the conference you will give at the UAB, in general what are the "lies that we eat"?

The conference literally talks about the “lies that we eat”. At Justícia Alimentària (Food Justice) we have been reporting about how the food industry uses messages and images to make us believe that certain products are healthy, sustainable, or natural… when they actually are not. It is very easy to fall for: a green packaging, words like “home-made” or “light”, a famous person selling the product, and they have you where they want you. We will see how these advertising tricks work, what is hiding behind them and how to learn to look at labels and advertising from a critical perspective. The idea is not to demonise anything, but to provide tools that help us not be deceived as easily. And yes, we will also have fun discovering how sugar is sold as something healthy!

-You talk about greenwashing in the food industry as the greatest menace to our health, the environment and human rights, all disguised as freedom. Is that true? 

Totally. Greenwashing is a strategy used by the food industry to make products seem sustainable or healthy when in fact they are not. In the report entitled Les mentides que mengem we pointed this out with specific examples: products with green packagings, words such as “natural” or “bio” are actually hiding intensive production models, work exploitation and severe environmental impacts."

With this greenwashing, they are disguising practices that have very real consequences on the land, our health and human rights. And under the false pretext of being able to choose freely.

-Some 80% of adverts selling processed foods catered to children advertise products high in calories, salt, bad quality fats and refined sugar. The effects on their health are concerning: approximately 35% of the children population in Spain is obese or overweight. What can we do to fight this?

We cannot allow the health of our children to be played with just because it is in the interest of the food industry. This situation violates their rights and there must be a clear institutional response to it. We need bold public policies that set limits to the advertising of unhealthy food aimed at children, as is done with tobacco. We are not only talking about an excess in sugar or fat, but a model that prioritises economic benefits over public health.

At the same time, it is crucial for food education be included since primary, in a cross-curricular way that connects with kids: vegetable patches at school, healthy lunchrooms, kitchens open for debates and participations. However, educating is not enough if we cannot guarantee that healthy food be accessible and affordable for everyone. The fight against child obesity cannot be left to the families: it must be a social responsibility and a political priority.

-Is it possible to produce food in the necessary quantity and quality to feed the whole population without using pesticides? What is your outlook on this? 

Yes, not only is it possible, but it is the way we must follow if we want a healthy and sustainable future. Synthetic chemical pesticides have a direct effect on biodiversity, human health and the quality of the soil and water. Working towards an agro-ecology is not only a viable alternative: it is a necessity.

 But this transition cannot be led only by farmers. There is a need for a clear political will, economic support and changes in laws to make it possible to produce healthy and sustainable food without putting at risk the viability of those producing it. If we want a fair food system, we must also take care of who is feeding us and provide them with all the necessary tools.

-Can you eat healthy without ruining your budget? In other words, what can we do to tackle the low prices the food industry offers in large supermarkets when compared to small producers and stores in which prices are not as low?

Today, eating healthy and sustainably is often much more expensive than what families can afford. And that is profoundly unfair. If the food that nourishes the body and the land is expensive, that means the system is badly designed. We cannot leave our health in the hands of those with purchasing power.

We must act to change the structures: revise food taxation, give support to small producers, foster proximity markets and, above all, promote transformative public purchasing of food. If school lunchrooms, hospitals and residencies would work with local suppliers and healthy foods, we would be opening real routs towards food equity. It is time food policies serve the common good and not the interests of the market.

-In today's society, the small and medium-sized farmers have become an insignificant and scarcely valued piece of a system that only enriches a handful of millionaires. What can be done to change this? 

The farmers have been backed into a model in which power and benefits are concentrated in the hands of very few. And this is a structural problem. We must protect local producers, guarantee fair prices and facilitate access to the land and its resources. If we do not defend those who feed us, there is no future for a fair food system. Without farmers, there is no food sovereignty.

-What role must public administrations play if we, as society, want healthy food, respect for the environment, and human rights? Do we need different public policies?

Not only do we need different public policies, we need a profound and brave change in direction. The administrations have a clear responsibility as upholders of the law: protecting the right to food and guarantee that it is healthy, fair and sustainable.

That means putting food, food sovereignty and the well-being of regions at the centre of economic, environmental, and social policies. That also means working towards public purchasing as a transformative tool, giving support to small producers, guaranteeing school menus that take care of the health of the children and reducing dependency on the agro-industrial model.

Defending farmers, sustainability and public administration is not optional: these political commitments cannot be delayed if we want a future in which food respects people and the planet.

-And as citizens, in our day-to-day life, what steps can we take to change these dynamics?

We all have a role to play. This does not mean being perfect, but we must become aware of how we can help to form part of the change that is already taking place. The existing food system is not neutral: it benefits a few, excludes many and has direct consequences on the planet and our lives.

That is why it is worth taking a critical look at what we eat, how it is produced and who is behind the food, to later fing spaces in which there is group participation, and alliances can be created, with support to initiatives that work to change things

-What is the objective of Justícia Alimentària (Food Justice), organisation you coordinate in Catalonia?

At Justícia Alimentària we work for the right to healthy, fair and sustainable food, based on food sovereignty. This is the vertebrate of all our projects: international cooperation, education, research and political advocacy. We began in 1987 at the UAB, at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, as Veterinaris Sense Fronteres, and through the years we evolved into what we are now, Justícia Alimentària, with a transformative, feminist and decolonial outlook, in both the Global North and the Global South.