NEWS

DAVID RUSSELL ON

FRUIT AND VEG SHORTAGE IN PIPELINE

Farmers are citing a decline in numbers of migrant workers as a precursor to a shortage of fruit and vegetables. The decline in the exchange-rate value of the pound has been blamed, alongside the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme limiting foreign labour to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals this year, and the Governments crackdown on unskilled labour immigration. Thousands of restaurant workers protested against requirements for immigrants to have academic qualications and the ability to speak English before entering the country. Farmers leaders have spoken to Home Ofce ofcials about the likelihood of produce being left to putrefy in the elds over summer unless enough foreign labour can be recruited to prevent such an outcome. The National Farmers Union have appealed for 5,000 extra students to be allowed in to Britain in order to ll the labour gap, but this was denied by the Home Ofce. Christine Lumb, executive director of the labour supplier Concordia, suggests reopening immigration channels for non-EU migrants, as the UKs poor exchange rate compared with the Euro means that theres little incentive for European workers to come over here.

Bleak Economics Enter Nutrigenomics

Just as we were getting used to the fact that nutrition is not just a passing food fad but a very real requirement for us all, things get more complicated. Previously it was thought that there were two separate inuences on our health: a) genes b) diet/lifestyle These two factors were seen as entirely unrelated, so scientists would talk about whether it was genetics or a persons diet that was to blame for their obesity. Emerging research suggests a far closer relation between the two than was at rst believed. Nutrigenomics is the study of molecular relationships between nutrition and the response of genes. Put more simply, how our diet affects the expression of our genes. The aim of this new and exciting eld of study is to shed light on how nutrients may affect genes which, in turn, may affect human health. Progress in genetic research meant the discovery that certain disorders with a close link to diet such as obesity, in fact had a genetic origin. This led to the development of nutrigenomics, working on the premise that nutrients act as messengers conveying information about our diet to our cells. This causes a change in the expression of genes, hence the potential for different diets to elicit different genetic responses. Nutrigenomics has the potential to enable people to identify their own genotype and with it any predispositions towards particular conditions. They can then follow a dietary regime tailor-made to their specic needs. So a person suffering from arthritis may be offered relief by including certain nutrients that work to reduce inammation in their diet. Equally, nutrigenomics might just offer a solution to the global obesity crisis. It is still early days for this new science, but there is hope amongst the scientic community that nutrigenomics will one day be able to offer us personalised dietary advice that can help to prevent the onset of many chronic conditions.
8 UNIVERSITY CATERER

CALLS FOR A FOOD & DRINK OMBUDSMAN TO PROTECT THE NATIONS FOOD CULTURE
In the wake of the Competition Commissions (CC) disappointing nal report into the grocery market, Guild of Fine Food national director Bob Farrand is calling on the Government to appoint an ombudsman to protect our food culture from the giant supermarkets. Farrand said: The Commission has ignored the reasons why this country has, over the last 15 years, lost half its dairy farmers and most regional apple orchards, and seen pig farmers shutting up shop by the hundred. With rapidly increasing grain and raw-material prices, and an emphasis towards farming for bio-fuels, additional pressure on food producers to articially hold down prices for prot-motivated supermarkets could have a devastating impact over the next 10 years.

6-11_News.v2.kh.indd 8

9/5/08 14:22:24