Dietary Changes in Sweden and Belgium During the Late 20Th and Early 21St Century and Their Implications for Sustainability
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Examensarbete i Hållbar Utveckling 18 Dietary Changes in Sweden and Belgium During the Late 20th and Early 21st Century and Their Implications for Sustainability Friedel Geeraert INSTITUTIONEN FÖR GEOVETENSKAPER Dietary changes in Sweden and Belgium during the late 20th and early 21st century and their implications for sustainability Friedel Geeraert Supervisor: Professor Phil Lyon Master in Sustainable Development May 2011 Uppsala University Abstract This dissertation focuses on the changing food consumption patterns in Sweden and Belgium during the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century and the implications as seen from a sustainability point of view, both from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. It is shown that changes in agriculture, food processing, distribution and consumption during the period under assessment were considerable and had a clear impact on the food consumption pattern in both countries. Statistical data on the consumption of different food groups such as meat, milk and dairy products, fish, fruits, vegetables, cereal, potatoes, sugar, margarine and chocolate were compared. Overall, an increase in the consumption of meat, cheese, yoghurt, cream, fruits and vegetables was observed in both countries, while the consumption of milk, butter and potatoes decreased. For the sustainability assessment three parameters were chosen: land requirement, greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. The assessment was based on quantitative data about food consumption in 1960 and 2004. It was shown that the Swedish and Belgian diets in 2004 required more resources and emitted more greenhouse gas emissions than in 1960. The Belgian diet had higher values for all parameters than the Swedish, except when considering the values for the emissions of greenhouse gases in 1960 when the Swedish diet had higher values. Keywords: history, sustainable development, food consumption, dietary changes, 20th century, Sweden, Belgium 2 Foreword This dissertation is a combination of my previous background in history, my current studies in sustainable development and one of my biggest passions: food. It has been an interesting journey back in time and I hope that it will be for you as well. 3 Acknowledgements It is common knowledge that dissertations are not written by one person alone. This was no different for this dissertation. A number of people have helped me reach the final stage of the process and therefore deserve to be acknowledged. First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Phil Lyon at Umeå University for his unfailing guidance throughout the whole process and, more specifically, for answering my e-mails so quickly which enabled me to work very efficiently. Your insightful comments have helped me improve my work significantly and I have enjoyed our collaboration a lot. Dr. Dawn Wood at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland has, as an external reader, also helped me improve the quality of my work considerably for which I would like to thank her. Philippe Lebailly from the Gembloux Agricultural University in Belgium and Monica Eidstedt from the Swedish Board of Agriculture also deserve to be acknowledged for making the data series on Belgian and Swedish food consumption available in Excel. I would also like to thank all interviewees in both countries for sharing their memories with me. It was incredibly interesting to hear your stories about daily life in the past. Thanks to all of you I learned a lot about how food used to be handled, knowledge that is not self- evident anymore for people in my generation. My parents and my sister Marieke deserve many thanks. Not only for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to study abroad, but also for introducing me, in the most pleasant way possible, to the wonderful world of food in all its shapes and varieties. My love for food, the initial inspiration for this thesis, can be attributed to you all. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends. To all the wonderful people I met in Uppsala: thank you for all the good times I spent in your company. I learned at least as much from you all as I did during my classes, not in the least about your food cultures which can differ greatly from mine. My lovely friend Alin Kadfak deserves a special thank you for taking the trouble of teaching me how to cook some delicious Thai dishes. To my friends back in Belgium: thank you for keeping in touch despite the considerable geographical distance. Your e-mails, skype conversations and visits have helped me stay motivated and have, in the case of the latter, also kept my indispensable stock of Belgian chocolate at an agreeable level. Mats Pylyser also deserves a special thank you for providing me with good film and music advice, which has kept me entertained throughout the writing process. 4 Table of content ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ 2 FOREWORD ............................................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................ 5 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER .................................................................................. 11 I Methodology ................................................................................................................... 11 II Limitations .................................................................................................................... 12 III Previous studies and further research........................................................................... 13 IV Sweden and Belgium in numbers ................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ............................................................................. 16 I Agriculture ...................................................................................................................... 16 I.1 Swedish agricultural policy ...................................................................................... 16 I.2 Belgian agricultural policy ....................................................................................... 22 I.2.1 Post-war agricultural policy .............................................................................. 22 I.2.2 Internationalisation of the market ..................................................................... 24 I.2.3 The oil crises ..................................................................................................... 27 I.2.4 Quality and variety ............................................................................................ 28 I.3 Agricultural innovations .......................................................................................... 29 I.3.1 Mechanisation ................................................................................................... 29 I.3.2 Introduction of IT .............................................................................................. 32 I.3.3 Plant refinement, fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides ................................... 33 I.3.4 Manure problems in Belgium ............................................................................ 35 I.3.5 New crops due to internationalisation ............................................................... 36 I.3.6 Livestock diseases, hormones and food scares ................................................. 36 I.4 Societal and economic changes................................................................................ 39 I.4.1 Urbanisation and gardening .............................................................................. 39 I.4.2 Economic structure ............................................................................................ 43 I.5 Ecological agriculture .............................................................................................. 44 II Processing ...................................................................................................................... 46 II.1 Product development .............................................................................................. 46 II.2 The rise of convenience food .................................................................................. 47 II.3 Foreign influences .................................................................................................. 48 5 II.4 The influence of food recommendations ................................................................ 50 II.5 Packaging ................................................................................................................ 51 III Distribution .................................................................................................................. 52 III.1 The Dutch auction system ..................................................................................... 52 III.2 The rise of the supermarket ................................................................................... 53 III.3 Logistics ...............................................................................................................