Read carefully before you eat

Until a few decades ago – when not even the notion of supermarkets existed – most Maltese households kept a few rabbits, chickens, even a pig or a sheep in their backyard. This household husbandry supported family life with a side dish of bread from the village baker and fresh produce from the farmer. There is a degree of nostalgic charm in how past generations used to cook and eat. But there is also a valuable lesson. Our forefathers knew the true shape and form of their food. Moreover, food did not arrive on supermarket shelves through a complex itinerary of food miles, rather, the journey consisted of a simple one-way ticket from backyard to fork. They literally knew what they were eating. In 2004, journalist Felicity Lawrence wrote a seminal book, Not on the label: what really goes into the food on your plate. She dissected the main conundrum that flavours the food we eat today: on the one hand, we increasingly spend thousands of hours watching cookery shows as a form of entertainment and, on the other, we are spending less time preparing and cooking our meals. Her bestselling exposés of the food business also showed how modern meals are served on a bed of food scares and...

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