Welcome from the editor: food gets political

Welcome and thank you for joining me this weekend.

The cost of living crisis and sky high inflation have not only left many out of pocket but have fostered a lack of trust in the system. There is a real sense that people feel hard done by, rather than helped in a period of financial turbulence, absorbing the costs of bad decisions made by those at the top.

In a recent survey, a large percentage of Brits have stated that they believe companies are taking advantage of the current economic climate and hiking their prices unnecessarily. We report in Majority of Britons believe food brands are guilty of ‘greedflation’, profiteering from cost of living crisis, poll reveals.

When we talk about data, images of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook’s embroilment with US presidential elections’ targeted ads spring to mind. But statistics can be very useful in problem solving. In the National Food Strategy, the British Government discussed the importance of reporting for companies, at this stage still voluntary – for tracking a number of issues, including food security, waste and sustainability. We look at how reporting can help in Mapping the food system: the race to revolutionise the sector using data.

The Italian government has recently proposed a ban on the production, sales, commercialisation and import of cultivated meat. I spoke to Italy Minister of Agriculture to ask him why the country has some a strong stance on cellular agriculture. Read all about it in Cultured meat is ‘a veritable suicide for a country like ours,’ says Italy Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Stef