I posted this on the Grumpy Fool Board in response to a bit of a grump but on hitting the send button it occurred to me that this is important and would appreciate other opinions on the general point.

"Actually this is a very important discussion and one that should be taken up by Government and backed by a week of programmes dedicated to sorting what has gone wrong.

IMV there are two aspects

1 Jersey Royals are now forced like most other vegetables and like most other vegetables they have lost most of the nutrients and taste associated with them. They are now just a product with a name - designer label potato and the quality aspect has been booted out of the window just like it has with many other products. The issue now is all about profit not providing the real mccoy. As long as people are happy to buy stuff because the package says something about them then it will continue.

2 Consumers focus on the wrong thing. They choose potatoes and other vegetables based on shape and colour not on taste. Give the choice of a dirty misshapen tuber that is full of provenance and tsate against a siny perfectly shaped specimen of average quality most people will go for the latter. Why? because people are inerently growing more superficial in this country all the time. They follow the US lead on this when in fact they should be following the French and Italian lead where it is more abut the freshness, the feel, the smell and the taste.

Overall I think this is just another example of people being sold the image and forgetting about the product.

I always love buying produce in France and Italy. I live buying French carrots from people who's fingers look like carrots or buying tomatoes from effusive Italins who clearly regard each tomato as a member of the family - a loving family, not a distant slope headed branch of the family.

So come on people love your vegetables. Cherish them and fight back against the Cruella de Villes of this World who want you to buy their pre-packaged, right name wrong taste variants."

Coleyfish