THE GREAT FOOD DIVIDE

I blame the fact that I was force-fed as a (very) premature baby both for a lifelong obsession with food - and a lifelong problem with my metabolism. I'm currently (successfully) managing to eat rather less but note today's CiF thread on a report in the Mail which suggests us Northerners spend far less on fresh produce and eat more junk than our counterparts in the south. Oh, yawn.

Some 70 years ago, in The Road To Wigan Pier, George Orwell pointed out that people with very little money or indeed time would tend to opt for a tasty fried fish supper rather than take the time to concoct something healthier or cheaper.

His evocation of the fly-blown tripe shop remains one of the great examples of descriptive prose in the English language. The fact is that diet is still largely determined by income and by class. Not by geography.

Until recently, it was fair to say that food in Britain remained cheap. Not so any longer. The days when you could cram a bag full of veggies for very little are long-gone .

Hebden Bridge, where I live, is a haven of foodie-ness with two delis, an organic veg and meat shop, two butchers, greengrocer's and no big supermarket. Two farmer's markets a month and every week a market where this week I bought a fresh piece of perch for £2.47 and baked it in the oven with lemon and herbs. I must confess it was rather bland and a portion in batter with some chips would have tasted rather better. And cost rather less.

I skipped on the fruit and veg ( apart from a punnet of strawberries for £1) because it was far too expensive.And frozen veg is just as nutritious.

Due to diminished income, I've become adept at stuffing sell-by cheapies in the freezer, I can make a pan of soup for about 50pence, and being a post-war child am also pretty skilled at the comfort dishes my mum made like shin beef stew ( Tater ash if you're a Mancunian, Scouse if you're a Scouser) and liver and onions. But, North and South, the art of cooking is dying out.

Junk food is undoubtedly more prevalent and I see far more takeaways when I go down to London than there are in Manchester city centre. It's all part of a quick-fix, corporate society where a vegan cafe has little chance of success in a world dominated by KFC and McDonalds.

I'm reminded of that wonderful TV documentary where Michael Portillo took over the cooking for a family in Liverpool and shamefacedly confessed he spent more on one meal out than the family did in a week. And that's the bottom line. Iceland, Lidl and Aldi are the ports of call for anyone with mouths to feed and very little money to feed them on. Ocadia and Waitrose the preserve of those with oodles of cash. Those with very little will eat what they can afford. And chips are very very cheap.....