As thrilling and empty a theatrical sugar rush as the biggest bumper bag of sweeties ever
Shares dived again as the City was officially described as a bear market for the first time in five years
More...
Delia: Keep battery hens for the poor
Last updated at 12:58pm on 15.02.08
Turning up the heat: Delia says she does not 'do organic'
Delia Smith hit out at "food trendies" today and said cheap chicken is essential so that the poor have something to eat.
She also said that she did not "do organic" and liked to eat peas flown in from Kenya.
Her remarks, which will be seen as a swipe at "politically correct" TV chefs such as
Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, have triggered a great food debate because of the vast influence Delia - the queen of cookbooks - has.
Delia, the 66-year-old matriach of British cookbooks, said she did not get involved in the "politics of food".
In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "I'll stick to teaching people to cook. I don't like the way battery chickens are reared but, on the other hand, we still have a lot of poverty, particularly among children, and I feel that's a disgrace.
"We have to make sure everybody gets enough nutritious food to eat in the first place."
Delia, whose new book How To Cheat At Cooking hits stores today, added that trying to make the "right" shopping decisions were "really confusing". "Yes I do love freshly shelled peas that you can only get in the winter from Kenya," she declared.
She said that, although she was "sorry about the planet" she was also aware that poor farmers in the developing world depended on their harvests being flown to countries such as Britain.
Delia also had a swipe at "food faddists" who insist on the importance of organic food, saying that whether or not a product was organic was not important to her - what mattered when she shopped was whether food looked good or not.
"I'm a cook. I can't get into the politics of food. I don't have the knowledge and I don't have the background.
"If I go into a shop and I want to buy some beautiful fresh beetroot I will go for whatever looks best.
If it is organic I will buy it, if it isn't I will buy that."
Her comments will turn the recent tide for organic food. Since Jamie Oliver's programme, sales of organic chicken have risen by 36 per cent.
Her book - her first publication-in four years - is expected to be a massive bestseller.
Asda, which has cut the price of the book from £15 to £8 has quadrupled its stock of products featured in How To Cheat At Cooking in anticipation of a sales surge. A spokesman for the chain said: "Delia's accessible and realistic approach is a recipe for success. So much so we are confident that it will put Jamie Oliver sales on the backburner."
The book features more than 150 recipes. Its launch will be followed by a six-part BBC television series. Delia Smith's previous books sold more than 19 million copies. Her original How To Cheat at Cooking was published with Ebury Press in 1971.
Reader views (18)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
Delia is clueless. Being the boring, uninspiring, dated cook that she is, she is now trying to get media attention by saying controversial things designed to get her attention. How pathetic!
- Mary, Bath, UK
What Delia is saying is that everyone has a right to afford Chicken - regardless of how appalling the suffering of the birds is to make it affordable. Why is eating chicken a moral right - and why isn't animal welfare a moral right? When I was a child (1960's) chicken was too expensive to eat every day. Now we take it for granted as a staple - and must have it - but NOT AT ANY PRICE - PLEASE!
- Ally, Eastbourne
This really seems to have rattled the cages of the bearded Guardian reading brigade! What she says is correct, the conditions that these animals are kept in is not good, but they feed a great many people in this country who have a very tight budget, and a whole chicken battery or organic could feed a family for two days.
- Mike, London
12°c
18°c
