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What do I get out of joining?
Label My food is a community with a purpose. What you get out of
it is largely up to you. You might just want to show your support
and leave it at that, or you could become active on the members'
forum and make some new friends, or you could set up or join a local
group to campaign in your local area. You can do as much or as little
as you are comfortable with.
What kind of people join Label
My Food?
All kinds of people join the campaign, most of whom would
fall into one of these dietary minorities:
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Animal Welfarists
These are people who want free range meat and produce. The growing
awareness of battery farmed animals is turning many people away
from cheap meat and produce.
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Organicarians
People who buy organic food and drink.
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Vegetarians
According to the Food Standards Agency there are 3.5 million
vegetarians in Britain. Although this includes a wide range
of commitment to the vegetarian life style, this is a huge number
of people who are constantly mistreated by the food industry.
-
Vegans
There are about 250,000 vegans in Britain.
-
People with allergies or food intolerance
There are around 3 million people in Britain with lactose intolerance
(problems digesting milk and dairy products), and unknown numbers
of people with other food allergies and intolerances. These
people risk their health every time they eat out due to poor
information levels.
-
"Buy British" supporters
For both environmental and animal welfare reasons, the Label
my Food campaign strongly supports the use of British food where
possible. Obviously this will appeal to people who want to support
British farmers and local food suppliers.
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Religious groups
Devout Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Jews all have good reasons
to seek better labelling of food due to the dietary requirements
of their religion.
-
Environmentalists
Regardless of all the other issues, the environmental damage
caused by mass food transportation is sufficient to alter the
way people are buying their food.
Why do I have to give my address when registering?
This is to ensure that you are a real person and not a spam-bot
or time waster. This is no different to the membership of any other
campaigning group. Your address (and email) details will be kept
strictly private and won’t be passed on, sold or transferred
to any third party without your prior consent.
If I join will I be pestered for more?
Don’t worry. Membership is completely free and doesn’t
oblige you to do anything; it is simply a statement that you agree
with the Label My Food goals. Just signing up is doing your bit
to help.
You will receive occasional email updates about
the campaigns so that you can stay informed. If you wish to get
involved in any activities, that will be entirely up to you.
Will I be asked for money?
Never. We have a number of innovative methods in place for fundraising,
none of which will cost you a penny (although we may ask for your
participation if you are willing). Of course you are free to make
a donation if you wish, but generally speaking we would hope that
any money you spend will be in your own area, campaigning to bring
local businesses and people into the campaign.
Why aren’t you a registered charity?
Unfortunately registered charities aren’t allowed to lobby
politicians. Since we have some 'political' goals (changes in the
labelling laws), we cannot legally register as a charity.
Will businesses sign up for this?
Consumer habits and demands are rapidly changing. Businesses can
either keep up or get left behind. Those that keep up will reap
the rewards. Once the first few businesses begin the switch, more
and more will follow.
Are you promoting your “dietary
minority” views?
We feel that if the general public are made more aware of what they
are eating and where it comes from, their purchasing habits will
change over time. This is already happening across the country;
we are just trying to speed up the process. Once consumers are given
a proper choice, the market will shift dramatically. At the moment,
we are denied proper information in the vast majority of eateries.
In other words, we think that most people already feel the same
way as us, they just haven't been given the opportunity or information
to demonstrate it.
Why do you talk about “environmental
damage”?
We accept that there is some disagreement about whether global warming
is man made or not. However, if there is a good chance that it is,
we should operate under the assumption that we must seek to reduce
our environmental damage until such time as the science community
can agree 100% one way or the other. This is the responsible thing
to do.
Food transportation accounts for a huge percentage
of fuel consumption (by land, air and sea).
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