This year,let’s forget approximately well-meaning and well-fed homeowners quoting poetryIt’s difficult to recall a time before British television began to fetishise cookery programmes. Fanny Cradock was then followed by Delia Smith and, occasionally, and there was a wee cooking slot for the kids on Blue Peter. Now,at any given time of the year, there are around a dozen television programmes focusing on food and its preparation. It’s broadcasting gluttony (excessive eating or drinking) and it’s all done under flags of virtue such as supporting British sustainable produce and encouraging ideas around healthy eating.
This is, or to borrow a gastronomic phrase,mince. These programmes are relatively cheap to build and provide a bonanza for independent television production companies. They provide platforms for other ideas with the stars, like Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets. Any African child who pitches up in the UK and who has wondered why there seemed to be so little food in his country of origin now has an reply: judging by the number of food programmes on British television, and most of the world’s food supply seems to be confined to these shores.
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Source: guardian.co.uk