Our favourite veg

No sooner had we absorbed the admonitions of climatologists, telling us how wicked we are to eat parts of cows or sheep more than once a week, than the farmers who sell us vegetables began to warn that there would be a shortage of potatoes in the new year, not to mention onions, parsnips, sprouts, carrots and especially leeks. Leeks are tricky creatures to rear, apparently, and what with a cold spring and a baking summer, they will be coming out small this year. In themselves, miniature leeks do not seem a serious threat to the British way of life. Our most popular vegetable is wheat, in the form of bread, on which (including other cereals for porridge, etc) we spend £6.14 a head each week, compared with £2.37 on all other vegetables combined. It may not be one of your five a day, but here’s a toast to toast.