What better time for us to learn how to cook?
SIR – Over the past few weeks I have noticed that, at the supermarket, the first shelves to be emptied are those containing cans, frozen goods, meat and bread, while the vegetable aisles have remained well-stocked.
I overheard a conversation between two young mothers in which one, looking at aubergines and avocados, said she wouldn’t buy either because she wouldn’t know what to do with them. It occurred to me that there may be a whole generation that has not been taught the basics of food preparation. Don’t get me wrong: I love meat, but there are hearty meals to be made with vegetables, too.
So here is an idea: given that so many parents are now isolated with young children, how about doing some “home schooling” by learning together how to cook? (Delia Smith made some wonderful programmes on the subject.)
These will be lessons for life, and will also help people to become less reliant on packaged, processed foods, which are often environmentally harmful.
The world will be a different place when we come out of this situation. We should reconsider the way we educate the next generation. The reintroduction of “domestic science” would be a start.
Paul Marsh
Glossop, Derbyshire
SIR – While eking out supplies in my fridge, I hit on the idea of making some soup using stinging nettles, of which there are many in my garden.
A large bunch of these, pulled from the stalks (with gloves), plus one potato, one onion, three cloves of garlic and two stock cubes, boiled and liquidised, made the best soup we have had for ages.
Shirley Page
Caxton, Cambridgeshire
SIR – You report (March 27) on a plan to restore allotments to urban areas, which seems an excellent idea.
We shall obviously need an allotment tsar, and I would like to propose Jeremy Corbyn for the post. George Kelly
Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire