Welcome from the editor: food is fuel

Welcome and thank you for joining me this weekend.

My PE teacher was a surly, terrifying woman I cared little for. I always suspected she’d never learnt to smile and was set on a quest to rob her students of their joie de vivre. Despite her overall unpleasantness, she did say something very simple that, to this day, has stayed with me: food is fuel, and without adequate nutrition neither our body, nor brain, can function properly.

Of course, some of us – to a degree and for now – have won the food lottery, in the sense that we have access to all types of foods we desire and can choose how we fuel ourselves. For many – and the number is sadly rising – basic nutrition is still a luxury.

This week I had the pleasure to talking to Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Executive Director Dr Lawrence Haddad about nutrition, food security and environmental goals. Don’t miss this fascinating interview.

If food and good health are intrinsic, why does hospital food still fall short? We investigate in Improving British hospital food: why nutrition needs to be part of the cure.

Shortages, high prices and climate change are not abstract threats to food security, they are a grim reality. Over in Germany at the G7 Summit, countries have pledged billions to fight the global food crisis. If there’s one thing we all know is that there’s no more time to waste. We must act now.

And if you didn’t get a chance the first time around, make sure to read Dining Table Tales with…Patrick Holden – someone who certainly knows a thing or two about food – and discover the evolution of vegan food in Plant-based ingredients of the past, the present and the future.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Stef