Here in the UK, we have had the privilege of watching a Channel 4 television series called ‘The Great British Food Fight’. This has involved celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall addressing issues like saving the British pig industry and promoting chicken welfare. Well produced and entertaining the programmes have certainly been, but the series has also raised two bigger issues for me. First, who is your average British consumer looking to for trusted guidance on diet and ‘responsible food purchasing’? Secondly, there is a strong contradiction, being propagated by many journalists and these celebrity chefs.
The high profile persona of TV chefs is, of course, nothing new, but the scope of their influence seems to be ever-broadening. Few seem content with simply inspiring the nation with their culinary recipes and tips. That is not enough. Increasingly, they are assuming the role of ‘moral guardians’ – “you really must buy British… check that label carefully… you should think of free range…” are just a few examples of their regular utterances.
Now I am not saying that calling for clearer labelling, buying local and caring about animal welfare is wrong – in fact, quite the contrary. However, it is the relative power that these ‘celebrities’ have that I think should be a concern. It is indicative of an erosion of trust in more traditional sources of advice on food and food issues: Government and its agencies often have to play the role of ‘second fiddle’. More troubling, however, is what I perceive to be a significant dip in the credibility of scientific experts. It is not so much that the findings of their research studies in themselves are, at times, flawed; it is more that the sheer weight of food, health and nutrition-related reports they produce often contradict one another. There is simply too much unsorted information out there. Add to that, consumers’ suspicions around the self-interest of communications coming from producers and manufacturers. What you are left with is a vacuum of trust which Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and their ‘colleagues’ are filling.
This brings me to my second point. There is a growing relationship between the exultation of food and fear. The chefs generally portray a celebration of “see how easy it is to make this dish…. just delicious”. Meanwhile, every time we open a newspaper or go online, we are reading about obesity, cancer, food prices or the latest food safety scare. This creates a feeling of being part of a ‘risk society’. The consumer doesn’t have the time or inclination to ‘see the wood for the trees’. Many of us end up overwhelmed and paralysed into lethargy, while still feeling that food is something to be feared. Strangely, the two opposite forces of exultation and fear fuel each other. And who is it that tries to make sense of it all? You’ve guessed it – the celebrity chef. In a sea of information, they are easy to understand and create the simplicity of instruction most of us crave. The more we heed their words, the more these ‘entertainers’ will fill that vacuum of trust left by politicians, scientists and other ‘authority figures’.
Clearly, the days of activist celebrity chefs are with us. Good luck to them, but for those of us charged with the challenge of communicating on behalf of the rest of the food industry, let’s try that bit harder. I do enjoy watching Jamie and his friends, but you can get a bit too much of a good – or bad – thing. Let’s not put all the onus on their shoulders to make sense of food. As professional communicators, we could learn a lot from their direct, simple approach. You never know, if we do this consumers might just listen to us a bit more.
Here in the UK, we have had the privilege of watching a Channel 4 television series called ‘The Great British Food Fight’. This has involved celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall addressing issues like saving the British pig industry and promoting chicken welfare. Well produced and entertaining the programmes have certainly been, but the series has also raised two bigger issues for me. First, who is your average British consumer looking to for trusted guidance on diet and ‘responsible food purchasing’? Secondly, there is a strong contradiction, being propagated by many journalists and these celebrity chefs.
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