Correspondence: Parents for Safe Food and National Food Alliance

Tim Lang's correspondence c.1990-1994, when he was Director (full-time then part-time) of Parents For Safe Food and National Food Alliance consultant on GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), Apr 1991-Mar 1993. The correspondence is generated from these positions and also his role as chair of SAFE (Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment) Alliance.

A portion of the Parents For Safe Food correspondence is actually addressed to Pamela Stephenson (probably forwarded to her by copy mail or fax), although copies of her responses are not present. There are also copies of Tim Lang's memos and letters to Stephenson in the UK and Hollywood, USA.

This file series covers 1990-1994, although exact dates of individual files may cover only a part of this date range and some contain correspondence dating back to 1989.

Files contain various papers as well as correspondence, including reports, memos, faxes and printed literature.

A wide range of issues are covered, including: world-wide consumer issues, European as well as global trade issues, GATT reform free trade and protectionism, EEC regulations, food quality, national food policy, genetically modified foods, agriculture and genetic modification, school meals campaign, sugar content in foods, sweeteners, meat storage standards, slaughter house conditions, use of pesticides and other chemicals in agriculture including entry into the food chain through the water supply, public health, environment and GATT food talks, fair trade, bioethics, the connection between food additives and hyperactivity in children, organic food production, food advertising notably foods with high sugar content, cooking, health and diet, BSE and CJD, use of BST (a genetically engineered protein hormone), food labelling, food production and effects on the environment, conservation issues, inter-cultural diets, low incomes and food poverty, food and agriculture policy in developing countries, food mountains or surplusses, media reporting and coverage of food issues and food safety scares (e.g. irradiation and salmonella), factory farming of poultry, Pre-Menstrual Syndrome and diet, ME and causal connections to health, diet, food and environment etc.

There is also a considerable amount of correspondence concerning conferences and seminars Tim Lang was invited to speak at, publications Lang was involved in, and any other consultation or advisory activitiy, e.g. for television or radio programmes, government papers or projects.

Correspondence with individuals and organisations is mixed together. Types of organisation include consumer organisations, companies, industry, farming associations, pressure groups, charities, agencies, publishers, consultant services, commercial companies, supermarkets, colleges, universities (UK and overseas), local councils and health authorities, teachers organisations, teachers unions. Types of individual are politicians, MPs, MEPs, representatives of organisations (national, European or International), celebrities, general public, members of pressure groups and voluntary organisations, government officials and members of government bodies, academics, people in the media industry, teachers, authors, academics attached to universities in nutrition or agriculture departments particularly.

c.1989-1994

6 boxes

Although the series is arranged in an alphabetical sequence the following should be noted:
Contents within each file are not organised in strict alphabetical order, therefore correspondence with one person or organisation may be found scattered throughout the file.
The method of filing is often inconsistent, with individuals sometimes filed under their surname rather than the organisation they are representing, or vice-versa where correspondence has been filed under the organisation name even though the content relates more to the individual and the individual's views, activities and purpose of writing.
Inconsistent filing also means that some correspondence with an individual is filed under their surname and some correspondence with the same individual is filed under the organisation they belonged to at the time.
Now and then it is not quite clear why an individual or an organisation is filed under a particular letter.
Occasionally material has been filed incorrectly.
This arrangement may mean a longer time needs to be spent in identifying the correct file, for example, when looking for correspondence with a particular individual it is advisable to also look under the name of the organisation/s they belonged to as well as their own surname.

Parents For Safe Food (PSF) was established in 1989, in part by the London Food Commission, as a pesticide-based pressure group. It operated until 1994. The original members were celebrities from the world of the media and entertainment, notably Pamela Stephenson, its founder. It was formed as a result of concerns, originally in the US, over a plant growth regulator daminozide, marketed under the named of 'Alar' (a chemical which was sprayed onto fruit to regulate growth, improve harvesting and enhance colour). After the victory of the campaign to ban Alar (and the move of driving-force celebrities to Hollywood), PSF focused its energies on international harmonisation of food standards, school meals campaigns and a cooking skills project in conjunction with the National Food Alliance, an organisation which had been set up in the 1980s. The 'Get Cooking' project was set up in the early 1990s and funded by the Department of Health.

For further information on the role and activities of Parents For Safe Food see Tim Lang's chapter in in David Smith's book Nutrition in Britain, (Routledge, 1997).

Restricted until 1 January 2079.