Journalism aside .....

I am suprised that having a bustling town close by we have not had a fishmonger for as long as I can remember ... and supermarkets rarely are able to sell "fresh fish". In our other home we overlook the water and one of the UK's main fishing ports ... but you cannot buy any good fresh fish close by.

We do better in supermakets with fresh meat even though I miss the family butchers. Most family butchers seem to be struggling except those that specilaise in premium priced products.

The problem is that too few now learn to cook. They think that reheating is cooking. They think that fine home dining is adding a garnish to their micro-waveable food. So what would they do with fresh fish .... or any meat that is still red and not shaped like a patty?

What is even sadder is that those that really need to learn to cook never seem really interested. Those bringing up young families on limited budgets could improve their eating and their health with just some basic cooking skills. Why doesn't the government pay the very small costs of a national scheme for cookery classes for all using schools over weekends and school holidays and offer them for free? How much would it cost? If incomes are so limited for many this would be a way of helping them become healthier and stretch their budgets. A way of "increasing income" or "stretching benefits" And what would it do to social cohesion if families sat down again to a meal that mum or dad cooked as in the past? Most kids have now never smelled a vat of vegetable soup bubbling away in the kitchen (no one will notice if you ladle out ac taster to see if it needs any more salt added ..... ) or the smell of a fresh loaf. And it is all really cheap and shows "love"

It's a shame that so many kids leave school unable to cook. I'd prefer them to leave shcool having learned to cook rather than have it instilled in them that one day they are going to be discovered and be a very famous star and very rich.