Poor seek solace and pleasure in a bad diet, says Gove

POOR people eat food that is bad for them because it makes them happy, Michael Gove has said.

The Environment Secretary was speaking to the all party parliamentary group on the environment after being challenged by Kerry Mccarthy, the Labour MP, over whether it was better to “nudge” people towards a better diet or be “more proactive”.

Mr Gove said he wanted to see the Government being more proactive because the current generation was likely to be the first to die of lifestyle choices rather than infectious diseases.

He said: “If you have got a difficult life and you have less money, then one of the things that can be a source of comfort, solace and pleasure will be buying and eating and consuming food that is not always going to be best for you in the long term.

“And some of those we might want to nudge are people who will say, ‘Well you don’t know what my life is like, and it is all very well for you to say try to eat more healthily – you have got a wider range of options, the capacity to be able to choose. My life is tough’.”