Horse Meat Scandal – is there a psychological fallout?

As the horse meat scandal grinds on Dr Jane Fenn discusses the potential fallout and new learning to be gained.

I thought I was pretty aware regarding food chains and eating healthily and organically. I was shocked and surprised to learn that 8000 horses a year are slaughtered for human consumption! This meat is then exported to other EU countries, who stops it coming back in to my pie? Apparently no one has until now.

I was wondering how many people have been put off eating processed meat since this Horse Meat Scandal has hit the headline? I was wondering if hypnotherapists have seen an increase in people wanting to give up meat, along with the traditional wanting to give up smoking and the wanting to lose weight clients.

Will counsellors see an increase in people with eating anxieties and horse anxieties presenting in the therapy room?  There is potential a whole emotional and behavioural chain reaction to the Horse Meat in our food chain issues.

People I have already spoken to have been clear in stating if they have made a conscious choice to eat Horse Meat while on holiday in other European countries that is not an issue for them. The Horse meat being eaten when it is not by choice seems to evoke very different feelings.

There are issues evidently of control and choice that is fundamentally important to other, certainly with our choices around food. Behaviourally there seems to be a reaction to not wanting to eat foods that may, by chance include horse meat now. MPs allegedly said they did not want to eat it and supermarkets are reporting some buying changes.

For me this ties in with so many other initiatives that have been around a while and link in with the whole need to change our approach to the food we eat and the how we produce this food. The Slow Food Campaign has been running for several years now, Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners Campaign, and the Transition Town Initiatives. The concept for each of us to be food aware, grow some of our own food, buy locally, buy what you know, buy unprocessed. This puts these campaigns squarely back in the spotlight.

I am also pushing that these concepts around personal choice and permaculture and the world perspectives on food and wealth are considered by all professionals. The professional training we run for Counsellors at the British School Of Applied Psychology unique covers these transition and permaculture values and principles. We want to have the debate and help our students formalise their ideas so they are prepared for working in this changing future.

Dr Jane Fenn works with BSAP as Director of Psychotherapeutic studies.  She is a senior BACP accredited counsellor and is the Course Lead for the Diploma in Integrative Counselling, beginning 12th May 2013. For more information on this and other BSAP training visit the courses page.