h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A very good article – I like it! A few points/observations, though.

The “five portions” should usually be given as a minimum and many authorities now suggest a minimum of seven.

Coffee, tea, cola etc. Regular drinkers get used to these so that the diuretic effect is very much reduced. Cola’s main problem is sugar and additives.

Milk products such as cheese and yoghurt, where bacteria have eaten the lactose, are usually fine, even for people who are lactose intolerant. Also, stoneground flour is usually acceptable to most people who react to wheat (the wheatgerm not having been atomised) and spelt flour (an early version of wheat used by the Romans) acceptable to almost all.

Low fat spread rather than butter? Hydrogenated vegetable oils make these options highly debatable. Better to use butter (which is at least a natural product) in smaller amounts, less frequently.

It’s hard to make a case for honey as a health food – it’s still sugar. Better to make a case for it as a tasty food, to be eaten in moderation, along with molasses, fruit juices or maple syrup, as a way of adding flavour along with sweetness.

“Protein powder”? Can’t find myself agreeing here – this seems like one of the over-processed foods you make such a good case against elsewhere.

Spelling - “Good Physique” (not physic) unless this is an American spelling?

Don’t want to give the wrong impression, I really did enjoy this article.

One further thing – people get conned that good food has to be complex; Elizabeth David’s “omelette and a glass of wine” is better than a processed ready meal.

would it be worth mentioning the space given to food and cookery in the National Curriculum?

It just seems to me that unless we intervene at home, a whole generation will be just handed over to the processed food manufacturers, unable to cook, and then thinking that they won't have time to start..(You do have to be in the habit!)

Enjoyed the article though!!

The idea that people should restrict themselves to prime, lean cuts of meat is wasteful, unethical and plain wrong.

What are you going to do with all the other, fatty, bits of meat? Feed them to the proles because they don't matter? Or are we going to feed, rear and kill four times as many animals and throw away the bits we don't want.

The fatty and tough cuts have loads of flavour and are ideally suited to cooking with loads of beans and vegetables to make wonderful stews. And because you're padding out the meat with lots of other things, the amounts of fat eaten overall are not at all excessive.