I have just found this subject, and credit where it's due, it has only taken just over a year … could this be due to age? With all the items mentioned in the report I would cast a small question mark over the fact we drink less, I believe as we age our choice of drink changes quite markedly.

Many, myself included, could easily put away a pint or several when a young man, now I rarely drink the amber nectar by far preferring wine or spirits. I do enjoy a lager to clear the palette before enjoying a restaurant meal, this helps enhance the full flavour the chef has worked so hard to achieve. I feel it also reasonable to write as we age our tastes and choice of food has also taken on a quite remarkable new course from what was considered usual in the fifties, sixties and seventies.

In those seemingly far off days the average Sunday dinner would be a roast consisting of meat and three veg, maybe more. Now, with a colossal variety of what would have seemed in those days, exotic food, we have the world at out fingertips and stove tops. Rice, a commodity that once was only considered as a pudding has suddenly taken on an entirely new lease of life, with many different varieties available depending on the accompanying meat or fish. Pasta has taken off in a way our parents would never have dreamed of, to them spaghetti came out of a tin with usually a Heinz label attached, well no more. Noodles are another leading commodity that for ease of preparation and speed of dishing up would be difficult to beat, even a salad needs to be washed, prepared and presented. The next time you are in the supermarket count the different varieties of cooking oil, there will be well over a dozen … do you remember when it was only lard or dripping?

I once started a thread on a website asking how foreign foods had impacted on poster's meals? The replies were few and those that did write said very little, I confess this really surprised me. As many would be aware I regularly holiday in Australia and this country must be among world leaders in continental cooking. Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese restaurants are everywhere, and of an evening they are packed. In Melbourne there are entire areas set aside for restaurants of varying nationalities, Italian especially is very well represent, with a whole street lined with Italian restaurants, I think it's call Lygon Street, be surprised and have a Google.

Whilst I can understand the lead articles emphasis that as we age we eat better, I believe the simple reason being we are not afraid to take a dare and try. This adventurous approach to dining is also brought home with the huge success of television programmes on cooking, also the personalities preparing the dishes have become household names. They show us in very easy steps how simple it is to prepare a seeming banquet and many viewers suddenly realise that the dish looks delicious but is also quite simple to prepare. Now add to this the  plentiful availability of prepared herbs and spices and an appetising meal is well on the way.

I don't know about others but my wife and I are very quick to get on top of health issues. We don't wait for a cold to break and possibly go down onto the chest, we are on to the expectorants and pain relievers very quickly, as we age this simple step seems essential.

Now, do I practice what I preach? Good question. For this evening's meal we are having large Australian prawns cooked very quickly (4 minutes) in olive oil and butter to caramelize them, plus a slight hint of finely crushed garlic to add just a little extra flavour, they will be served in a stir-fry, which possibly has at least eight vegetables combined. For dessert we will be having fresh raspberries served with natural yogurt, nothing could be simpler or much more healthy.

Having covered the main subject with very nearly full agreement, I would be wrong not to mention the two of three gins I will have this evening will probably ruin all I strove so hard to achieve.

Who really wants to live forever?

Doreen, I believe your thoughts toward the cost of eating an international dish are widely held, but nothing could be further from the truth. Pasta is very cost effective as is rice and noodles. These make an ideal occasional substitute for potatoes, which I believe can be harmful depending on the way they are cooked … roasted or fried may taste wonderful, however, the fat they are cooked in may have a large question mark.

A lot of Italian food is made from mince, preferable extra lean, and the sauce from tomatoes, both products are advantageously priced and the dish can have added herbs to taste, another commodity that is not expensive.

If we look at the Sunday roast of yesteryear the price of steak, beef, lamb and veal have all gone through the roof, even here in a meat producing country, meat has gone up in price considerably. The only meat that has dropped in price in recent years and is freely available whole or in many cute is the humble chicken. Now here is the odd part, a chicken is the ideal accompaniment to most international dishes, therefore it promotes real value for money.

What has happened to the price of fish in your country? Here many common varieties are now far more expensive than prime steak. The only prime fish that can be purchased regularly at a very reasonable price is salmon. Hang on, wasn't salmon the luxury fish of yesteryear? My how times have changed.

With Christmas now only a month away our main attraction for the table will be a whole side of salmon that I will smoke. This will make magnificent salads and what doesn't get consumed will make smoked salmon fish cakes and salmon and salad rolls that can be eaten at any time. This is a huge opposite to a turkey and the worries of eating it for several days after the main event, usually ending up being either thrown away or finally got rid of as turkey soup. 

I must stop writing on this subject, i am getting hungry!!! 

I have really enjoyed reading what 'ME' and Doreen have to say. In the UK you get a very wide rang of cuisines in the cities but in the towns and villages there is not so much choice. In the shops you can buy anything all year round. I have to say food in the UK has never been so cheap. People might not agree with this but you only have to look back at history and see how much of people's income used to go on food. In olden times in the UK salmon was a poor person's food. The rivers were full of it and as it got less common the price went up. Now it's farmed the price is coming back down. Other fish is more expensive because there is less of it and it can't be farmed. In Edwardian times chicken was expensive but now we have fast growing chickens. They are cheap but are they good for us? Only time will tell. I like to go for quality over quantity. In other words, a small bit of very good meat where you know the animals have been looked after and fed well rather than something that you don't know what it's been fed or pumped up with. Logic tells you that if you can buy 2 Chickens for £4.99 something is not right. It costs more to look after them than that.