University of Hertfordshire Research Archive

        JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

        Browse

        All of UHRABy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitles

        Arkivum Files

        My Downloads
        View Item 
        • UHRA Home
        • University of Hertfordshire
        • Research publications
        • View Item
        • UHRA Home
        • University of Hertfordshire
        • Research publications
        • View Item

        The chimera of choice in UK food policy 1976-2018

        View/Open
        Burges_Watson_Draper_Wills_The_chimera_of_choice_in_UK_food_policy_1976_2018.pdf (PDF, 293Kb)
        Author
        Burges Watson, Duika
        Draper, Alizon
        Wills, Wendy
        Attention
        2299/23743
        Abstract
        Purpose – This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of 'choice' as it appears in formative UK policy documents relating to food and public health. A dominant policy approach to improving public health has been health promotion and health education with the intention to change behaviour and encourage healthier eating. Given the emphasis on evidence-based policy making within the UK, the continued abstraction of choice without definition or explanation provoked us to conduct this analysis, which focuses on 1976 to the present. Design/methodology/approach – The technique of discourse analysis was used to analyse selected food policy documents and to trace any shifts in the discourses of choice across policy periods and their implications in terms of governance and the individualisation of responsibility. Findings – We identified five dominant repertoires of choice in UK food policy over this period: as personal responsibility; as an instrument of change; as an editing tool; as a problem; and, freedom of choice. Underpinning these is a continued reliance on the rational actor model, which is consonant with neoliberal governance and its constructions of populations as body of self-governing individuals. The self-regulating, self-governing individual is obliged to choose as a condition of citizenship. Practical implications – This analysis highlights the need for a more sophisticated approach to understanding ‘choice’ in the context of public health and food policy in order to improve diet outcomes in the UK and perhaps elsewhere. Originality – This is the first comprehensive analysis of the discourse of choice in UK food policy.
        Publication date
        2021-01-01
        Published in
        British Food Journal
        Published version
        https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2020-0982
        Other links
        http://hdl.handle.net/2299/23743
        Metadata
        Show full item record
        Keep in touch

        © 2019 University of Hertfordshire

        I want to...

        • Apply for a course
        • Download a Prospectus
        • Find a job at the University
        • Make a complaint
        • Contact the Press Office

        Go to...

        • Accommodation booking
        • Your student record
        • Bayfordbury
        • KASPAR
        • UH Arts

        The small print

        • Terms of use
        • Privacy and cookies
        • Criminal Finances Act 2017
        • Modern Slavery Act 2015
        • Sitemap

        Find/Contact us

        • T: +44 (0)1707 284000
        • E: ask@herts.ac.uk
        • Where to find us
        • Parking
        • hr
        • qaa
        • stonewall
        • AMBA
        • ECU Race Charter
        • disability confident
        • AthenaSwan