Opinion: a distinct local food ecosystem from city to town to village runs contrary to a McDonald's model with its relentless search for uniformity
The omnipresent Golden Arches that grace our city centre's main streets, suburban crossroads and motorway lay-bys cast a looming shadow over our local micro-food businesses. McDonald's was founded in 1940 and is now the world's largest fast-food chain, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries. It's a famous success story of economies-of-scale and a uniform menu designed for mass appeal.
On the other hand, micro-food businesses are the local, usually family-owned, community-oriented, product-focused cafés, restaurants and artisan food producers. Micro bakeries, butchers, coffee roasters, fermenters, market gardeners and local fishmongers all contribute to a distinct local food ecosystem from city to town to village. These businesses generally run on hard work and low profit margins.
The sociologist George Ritzer describes the 'McDonaldization of society' as a relentless search for uniformity through rationalisation. His point is we risk 'dehumanising’ and ‘disenchanting’ society if we only seek efficiency, predictability and reliability. Has our inclination for rationalisation made us vulnerable - and where does this leave our local micro-food businesses?
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At an extreme, rationalisation can result in food deserts, urban areas where affordable, good-quality fresh food is unavailable. Fashion designer, food activist and guerilla gardener Ron Finley describes this situation in South Central LA as a place where 'the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys'.
This has also led us down a path to a global food system with a high output of cheap, nutrient-poor, energy-dense, ultra-processed food, which accounts for 45.9% of the Irish diet, leading to recent calls for a junk food tax. In his book Ultra Processed People, Chris van Tulleken attributes this surge of ultra-processed food to the global industrialised food system.
A system underpinned by supermarket chains that provide a convenient and affordable way for the modern, increasingly urbanised and generally busy consumer to do their grocery shop. Supermarkets account for 90% of food sales in Ireland and there is no question that supermarkets are highly efficient in getting food to our tables, but not without some consequences
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One of these is its effect on our local food ecosystem. Take, as an example, an everyday staple: the apple. We are offered half a dozen varieties on the supermarket shelf, 97% of which are imported. In contrast, the Little Apple Farm in Tipperary grows 60 varieties of apples, offering an array of flavours and ripening times. Or take the humble sandwich as a demonstration of our food’s entanglement in global supply chains. Global supply chains are susceptible to the war in Ukraine, the Red Sea crisis, pandemics and climate change.
Unfortunately, this trend in the Irish food industry has seen a substantial decline in our fruit, vegetable and grain producers. Vegetable growers reduced from 400 in 1998 to currently 60 growers. Similarly, 20,000 independent food retail stores are now reportedly 10,000 with ongoing closures. In 1990, there were an estimated 2,300 independent butcher shops in Ireland. By 2019, that figure had fallen to about 800 butchers.
The cost of doing business is becoming untenable for our micro-food businesses. The Restaurant Association of Ireland reported that 280 restaurants closed in the latter half of 2023 and declared a crisis in the food service industry for 2024. The reality is that small micro-food businesses need to be able to achieve economies-of-scale to be able to compete on this global playing field.
These closures affect the whole local food ecosystem and point toward the McDonaldization of society, but it doesn't have to be this way. A Local Food Policy, in contrast, promotes diversity and the value created by local food. They support short food supply chains and low-cost access to the market by fostering spaces like farmers' markets. They promote local procurement and seasonal eating.
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These policies recognise the role of micro-food businesses in fostering sustainable food systems through the promotion of biodiversity, reducing carbon footprints, providing fresher and more nutrient-dense foods to local households, local employment, community building, local food knowledge and education.
The Good Food Nation Bill passed by the Scottish parliament in June 2022 has a mission to create a nation 'where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day’. The Belgian city of Liege is another example of a region re-imagining its local food ecosystem.
While McDonald's will always play a role in our food system, let us celebrate our diverse local micro-food businesses
In Ireland, local micro-food businesses account for only 3% of our current National Food Policy targets. Grassroots organisations such as Tallamh Beo and the Cork Food Policy Council are working to redress the balance and instigate an Irish local food policy.
While larger establishments like McDonald’s will always play a role in our food system, let us not succumb to uniformity and celebrate our diverse local micro-food businesses. In 2015, the Irish government gained international acclaim and were cited in New York magazine, for supporting small food businesses by standing up to McDonald’s for misusing the term 'artisan'. Perhaps it is time again to stand up and support our local micro-food businesses.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
