Letter: Food thoughts

Sir: Food and sex are two of the greatest, and most accessible, pleasures in life, and if Terence Blacker ("Why make such a meal of trivial cooking?", 10 October)really believes in the "food is only fuel" argument it is he who is impoverished, and I feel sorry for him and for those who agree with him.

What I mainly object to, though, is his attempt to occupy the moral high ground; I fail to see why spending money on watching 22 men kick a ball up and down a field is in some way morally superior to spending the same amount on going to a good restaurant.

His "starving children" argument is utterly spurious and offensive. Buying a set of Willie Nelson CDs or a Philip Roth novel would do no more to put food in their mouths than would going out for a meal.

PAUL GYSEMAN

London N1