London and the meaning of local food after Brexit
How the food culture will change in London after Brexit? The City which appeals to so many different ethnicities and cultures has to face now a new challenge: rethink the food importation without losing the popular variety and quality of the foreign and local products.
Everyone knows that a couple of months ago UK citizens voted to leave the UE. They have been moved towards this decision in order to re-establish their glorious past made by a wide emperor, a solid monarchy and independency. They basically hope for a return to the local traditions and the auto-sustenance of the territory.
But have they really thought about the consequences for the future of their country? Not only from an economic and financial point of view (we all know how clever they are to recover any kind of crisis), but most of all for the cultural and social habits that are due to change radically.
London, the heart of the economy in Great Britain, is the most polyhedric, international and cosmopolitan city in Europe thanks to the huge amount of migrants who found in this city the opportunity to run a new life and to enrich themselves as well as the UK. England built up a place able to receive and host people from every nationality who can find there their little heaven on earth. In this process the availability of particular food products surprisingly had a deep role. In fact, the variety of ethnicities stabled in London has been made easier even because is pretty easy to reach every foreign and rare delicatessen that come into our minds. Russian markets, Pakistani restaurants,the best Italian food products, everything is reachable in London…at least until now.
The strength of the food market and service in England is based on an efficient and heterogeneous import system. Without that, the supermarkets would be empty and most of the restaurants would be closed in few months.
With the approval of the Brexit, it will be needed to reconsider all the importations from outside the UK and this means for the food as well, bringing a renovation of the english food customs and traditions. Maybe the taxes imposed by the UE will be sustainable and nothing will change, but maybe this could mean that many products that everyday come from abroad will no longer be imported in the UK.
Anyway, for the English Countryside not so much will be different; it indeed has an ancient farm tradition and its citizens will be happy to survive just with the British local products. For London is different. Local in the UK capital means no more english; local is a collection of different cultures and culinary traditions which appeals tourists and make the migrants’ stay more comfortable. It’s the variety of the best food products from every part of the World. Is not a belief that in London there are some of the best Italian, Chinese, Indian (and so on) restaurants in the world, for instance.
For sure the governors and politics are aware that this is a relevant issue, because the food is without doubts part of our richness and culture. The question is: will they be able to apply for import restrictions that won’t affect UK food culture and its cosmopolitism? Or for the hundreds of strangers that every year choose London to establish their lives there will be a radical change of their food habits?
