All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

A Capital Appetite: The Political Economy of UK Sugar Consumption

Abstract

The consumption of sugar is about more than its intrinsic sweetness. To explain why it is ingested in dangerously high quantities, we need to appreciate its appeal to the businesses that supply and shape our collective diets. Whether suspending shelf-life, modifying meal times or encouraging over-eating, the properties of sucrose have been extremely useful in helping industrial food manufacturers subvert the natural and cultural rules governing what can be eaten, when, and in what quantities. This has been underpinned by supportive state policy governing sugar production and trade, and light-touch consumer protection. However, as the proposed soft drinks levy and post-Brexit agricultural reforms suggest, this political settlement is not beyond challenge.

About Dr Richardson

Dr Richardson is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. His research is focused on the political economy of food and agriculture. He is the author of Sugar (2015, Polity) which examines the global politics of this commodity, as well as articles on hunger, farming, and international trade policy.

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