"Food Glorious Food"

20 June 2023

75s

Food Fantasy

The musical adaptation of Oliver Twist re-introduced audiences to the harsh realities of Victorian child poverty back in the 1960s, and you'd hope its message would be irrelevant by 2023... but we live in Tory Britain. 'Food Glorious Food' provides a jaunty soundtrack which becomes haunting in this film for the Child Poverty Action Group, as a child heads into a fantastical lunchtime with his peers.

The table is overwhelmed with a cornucopia of delectable dishes, with giant stacks of burgers, rolling doughnuts, and every sort of treat imaginable magically bursting forth from their lunch boxes. One kid even holds up a pair of lobsters, emphasising the sheer decadence of the spread available to them.

The exaggerated luxury makes the twist hit that much harder, when the main character sits down to his own lunch and enthusiastically mimes his way through eating nothing. It's a visceral way to draw attention to the huge number of children going hungry in the UK, and should encourage those watching to get involved in changing the narrative for another generation of Oliver Twists.

UK

Lobby Groups