Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment and Society,

Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment and Society

Article Type: Books and resources From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 20, Issue 6

Tim Lang, David Barling and Martin CaraherOxford University PressMarch 2009336 pp.ISBN 9780198567882£29.95

For over half a century, food policy has mapped a path for progress based upon a belief that the right mix of investment, scientific input, and human skills could unleash a surge in productive capacity which would resolve humanity’s food-related health and welfare problems. It assumed that more food would yield greater health and happiness by driving down prices, increasing availability,and feeding more mouths. In the 21st century, this policy mix is quietly becoming unstuck. In a world marred by obesity alongside malnutrition, climate change alongside fuel and energy crises, water stress alongside more mouths to feed, and social inequalities alongside unprecedented accumulation of wealth,the old rubric of food policy needs re-evaluation.

This book explores the enormity of what the new policy mix must address,taking the approach that food policy must be inextricably linked with public health, environmental damage, and social inequalities to be effective. It attempts to make sense of what is meant by food policy; explores whether the term has any currency in current policy discourse; assesses whether current policies help or hinder what happens; judges whether consensus can triumph in the face of competing bids for understanding; looks at all levels of governance,across the range of actors in the food system, from companies and the state to civil society and science; considers what direction food policies are taking,not just in the UK but internationally; assesses who (and what) gains or loses in the making of these food policies; and identifies a modern framework for judging how good or limited processes of policy-making are.