Philobiblon

Reading this morning about how the manufacturer is getting rid of blue Smarties as a health measure, just as my Waitrose delivery man arrived, I was left musing on our habits not just of eating, but shopping. Much is written about our supposed “biological” urge to eat as much fat- and sugar-rich food as possible, which is said to be a major cause of the current obesity epidemic.

But – always suspicious of “natural” explanations, when so much of our behaviour is learnt and cultural – I thought about how my method of shopping has changed over the years. When I was a small child, and money was tight, it was part of my mother’s “job” to feed us as cheaply as possible. “Own brand” from supermarkets, frozen veg and cheap cuts of meat – which produced a diet both unhealthy and frankly dreadful. “Treats” were cheese (still cheap ones), ice-cream (ditto), and sticky cakes – comfort food for when things got bad.

Later, in my teen years, I saw people who regarded food as a pure status symbol. King Island Brie (from an island off Tasmania) was the ultimate symbol of wealth and sophistication, although it’s probably now gone the way of Jacob’s Creek wine, as being a bit naff.

I’ve tended over the years to fluctuate in food shopping between “cheap bulk”, ridiculous luxury, with a smattering of horribly unhealthy comfort eating. Only now, I think, am I starting to get a sensible balance.

I get a box of organic fruit and veg delivered over a week for about £15. I don’t always manage to eat all of that, and I give items that really don’t agree with me (like leeks) away. (The rest goes to the worm farm on the balcony.) Even if I only use three-quarters of it, the fact that the fresh, healthy stuff is there means I eat far more than I would do otherwise, but I have to wrestle with my conscience about the “waste” – even though the value of that probably amounts to about one Starbucks coffee.

I then get a Waitrose delivery about once a month, and that tends very much to the luxury end, but luxury for good taste and health (and a smattering of politics), rather than for showing off. I’ve found it is worthwhile buying some surprising “luxury” things. I’ve always thought of eggs as your absolute basic staple. Why – apart from going organic and free-range for moral reasons – would you think of going any further?

But the Waitrose Columbian Blacktail Eggs are a taste revelation. Lightly poached (1.5 minutes in the microwave with a little water), they are simply delicious – utterly unlike the flavourless fluff of cheap eggs. But rolled oats for the morning porridge are, I think, just rolled oats, and the simple Waitrose organic will do fine.

The “extra-fruit” jams (with somewhat less sugar), from luxury brands, are also well worth the extra money, and the Duchy mint/strawberry cordial bears no resemblance at all to the lurid sugar solutions of my youth.

But all of this I’ve had to work out for myself – I’ve had the time and money to work out for myself. It wasn’t part of my cultural heritage.