The officially approved national diet

Would we not be better off with government health policies that encourage self-improvement instead of forcing it down our throats?
Chicken pie
Chicken pie. Photograph: Dorling Kindersley

Calorie counts on restaurant menus; alcohol unit counts on beer glasses; cheese eaters being told to grate, not slice; and now it emerges the government is even thinking of telling public sector caterers they should make pies with the pastry only on top.

Add to that even more guilt-inducing government advice to eat fish because it is good for you but only from ethical sources, and even I, a public health enthusiast, am beginning to feel I have had enough.

Ministers may be on the verge of not only nationalising banks but nationalising our diets while hiding behind the weasel words of information and choice.

Instead of deliberating on the minutiae of what a "healthier food" stamp of approval for public sector catering might include - as civil servants have been doing for the last few months - they might be better employed helping consumers understand the importance of locally sourced food and ensuring children learn how to cook at school, if they can't in the home.

Ministers will no doubt claim they are doing just that but they only usually concentrate their minds on such projects after crises - foot and mouth, the recent Irish pork dioxin scare (which showed how confusing country of origin labels can be) or a welcome mouthy shot across the bows from Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall or another celebrity chef.

The thing is, people like Jamie don't make us feel bad about ourselves, they show us how we can act positively for our own sake and that of animals raised for food. They also make good and healthy eating seem fun, not a guilt-induced chore. It doesn't always work. Some may even think it patronising and condescending.

Still, I find it illuminating that while the National Trust (with a membership that dwarfs those of political parties) is preparing to give over land to allotments and encourage newcomers to the delights of 'growing your own', Whitehall debates whether it should be laying ground rules for the vegetable content of public sector sandwiches. (Incidentally, the government is an even bigger landowner than the trust - time to dig for victory on MoD land, perhaps?)

It is not enough to bleat that such guidelines will be voluntary and that no decisions have been made on what will be in them. There is the smack of central diktat in a government-approved healthy eating programme.


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