Delia needs to find some quick cash for her football club. Quick grub will bring her that quick cash. Unless of course the millions of enlightened people who know that industrially produced food is nutrition-depleted and deadly to our environment, boycott her trashy book.

Many, like Delia and Jim of Suffolk, show their ignorance of the facts of history by saying we need industrially produced food to feed the world.

Do the research. The reason people starve is not because of a lack of food, but because they can't gain access to it. Corrupt third world leaders export all the produce for profit - Ethiopia in the eighties is the classic example. Further, wars funded by the West cut people out of the supply chain.

A lot of research finds that organic farming can produce enough food to feed the world. As organic farmers are becoming more adept, yield rates are increasing.

Delia is no better than agri-corporations that want the biggest profit in the fastest time and damn the consequences

Vic, Norwich, UK

I think Delia is dead right. The yields achieved by organic farmers are simply not as good as those of farmers who use sprays and fertilisers. In a world where we have people starving, what right do we, the middle class in the developed world, have to say we want our land to be less productive just because we can afford it? Until we can effectively feed everyone we must use our limited land to produce as much food as possible.

Jim, Suffolk, UK

I am appalled that Delia has chosen to write this book. What was the point in those wonderful back to basics cook books of hers we all bought a decade ago, teaching us about the joy of a well cooked egg, if she is now stooping to this? Tinned meat and frozen mash? Disgusting. Sounds to me as though Delia was jealous of the air time people like the wonderful Jaime Oliver were getting, and desperate to cash in on the Nigella Express trend, but she has fallen very fall of the mark. I will not but this book, and will delight doubly in chopping my own onion.

Jayne Buxton, London,

When is someone going to point out the number of 'additives' found in pre-prepared foods? By buying a tin of meat, or a packet of frozen potatoes for example, you also need to be aware of the chemicals that have been added to prevent the potatoes from browning. Also from where and which part of the animal has the meat come from? How much 'meat' is contained in the tin of meat? Plus coagulants/fat/? We should be getting down to basics again, its not difficult or time consuming to create a simple dish from fresh ingredients as Lydia Slater pointed out. Try a taste test?

Maria Bird, Mojacar, Almeria, Spain

We regularly see large familes devouring packet sandwiches and tucking into expensive fresh cream cakes. Then, at the first opportunity the mother lights a cigarette. Of course they are entitled to all these things but please don't wail that they can't afford a free range chicken or even a box of organic eggs.

It would be unkind to berate Ms Smith on the Net...........but what is this all about? Does she have a genuine concern for the underprivileged or is all this wild publicity to boost a flagging career?

A. Collins, Pevensey, E. Sussex

By pleading ignorance to much of food politics - which I don't understand from someone who has had a long career in the business - I think Delia is really saying 'I don't care' and that is a great shame. If she can't even encourage us to mash a potato she's lost the plot.

Mickey Smith, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I have always had a lot of time for Delia Smith and bought most of her books. However this article combined with her pleading for individuals to cook with 'frozen mash' and mince out of a tin has disillusioned me. It takes no time at all to make good mash- which will taste 100 times better than the frozen that she appears to advocate. It makes sense that organically raised poultry will taste better (as fed on better healthier food) and, if it has been raised in decent conditions I for one believe that it will be better for us. Perhaps the real debate should be about making organic food more cost effective and therefore making it available to all including the less well off - who incidentally, will spend a pound on a chicken and claim financial restrictions whilst booking expensive family holidays and buying all the latest gadgets to amuse children in front of the TV.

Jane, Sussex, UK

Well said Delia, some honesty at last.

I have never understood the fascination with organic food, and have concerns all the issues to do with food are becoming jumbled and misunderstood, particularly by those who wish to push their self-righteous views onto others..

Lucy, Gateshead,

In some parts of the 'developing world' huge amounts of chemicals are used that are not allowed in Europe, partly because of ignorance but mostly due to the fact that it is exported.
Take Tiger prawns from Bangladesh as one example, Large quantities of antibiotics are simply poured into the ponds in which these prawn are farmed. The tides in the estuaries keep these ponds relatively clean. but it also means the antibiotic dosage has to be increased due to seepage into the sea.
D.D.T. is still used on fruit in many developing countries because it is cheap.
Modern children suffer from allergies as never before.
Buy organic as much as possible, although it does cost a little more.

Nicholas Halsey, Silkeborg , Denmark

“.......It’s really confusing at the moment........I can’t get into the politics of food because I don’t have the knowledge and I don’t have the background ........."

IT IS COMPLEX AND IT CAN BE DAUNTING, BUT MAKING THE EFFORT IS MORE REWARDING THAN GIVING IN.

REMEMBER DELIA, IF YOU AREN`T PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

Ed, Stroud, Gloucestershire

Well said Delia... I'm sick of mega-rich celebrities sitting on their high sanctimonious horse when all it is doing is serving to line their own pockets with more cash.

Jamie Oliver, for example, said a year ago he was going to install a wind turbine on his Fifteen restaurant. He issued a nice press release for publicity saying that... Is it their now..? I don't think so... It was a publicity stunt...

WE WANT MORE DELIA... SHE'S OUR THIRTEENTH MAN...

(ps. I am middle class and CAN afford organic... But I know people who can't... And I don't sneer at them)

Garry W, London,

Is this a storm in a tea cup ? If food has to be organic does anyone know what inorganic food is? I cannot find any in my supermarket.

Paul, Eastleigh, England

Well said Delia! You have seen through the big four's strategy of charging us more for food based on the fear that anything that's not organic will lead to a slow lingering death........

Peter, Grimsby , U.K.

Hurray Delia!
So good to see someone standing up to the smug sleb chefs who are trying to bully the country into replicating their privileged lifestyles.

KC, London,

I applaud Delia for holding her hands up and saying she's just as confused as the rest of us. I'd rather hear the research from experts rather than celebrities and she acknowledges that her forte is cooking food. Well done Delia!

Kaitlin McGready, London,

Surely if she is pleading ignorance, she should not say anything! Meat tastes much better when animals are treated fairly and have a decent life before they are slaughtered. As far her new cookery book - getting everything out of jars is costly and certainly does not taste as good as putting in a small amount of effort if you cook a dish from scratch. You can make more and freeze the rest for another day. I think Delia needs to see the bigger picture!

K Law, Leicester, UK

Common sense! Thanks, Delia.

Osei K., London,

All nitrogen atoms are the same. It doesn't matter whether they are fixed by an industrial process or by bacteria. This is very basic biochemistry.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Well, first I have to apologise to Ms Smith, I was at work today and actually turned said radio interview off, dismissing her as her old hap and frankly boring. However, reading that article, I am astonished, she is right in almost every point she raises. I am so gald that someone from within the food market has attacked the celebrity chefs that have jumped on the moral highground and attacked decent people for merely wanting to feed their families well. Futhermore, she is the first celebrity chef to attack the snobbish attitude from the green movement for prefering a Western monopoly of farming in order to cut emmisions. It should always be the progressive arguement to support the producers from the ground up and we in the west should support the supurb quality that comes from African farmers. Instead of playing politics and putting Kenyan farmers out of business to "save the planet".

It's people that matter and food a crucial part of enjoying life, Ms Smith understands.

Jon Gill, Norwich, UK

Food is cheap, cheaper than it has ever been. The idea that people cannot afford to eat ethically is just not true... it just means that people will have to spend less on luxuries...

James, Carlisle,

Come on Gordon, where are you? Let's be having you...!

Matthew Jones, Newcastle-under-Lyme, United Kingdom

Good old Delia: catering for the ordinary person. Much as I would love to be able to buy happy chickens, organic (where "fresher" is the preference here) vegetables, and fair trade goodies, it is simply not an option for me all the time.

Although people may disagree with her opinions, a balanced argument is always welcome.

Sarah Phillips, Angers, France

i still have the original book of the same name circa 1970 by the same delia smith, if the new one is as good dont hesitate to buy it, i use my original copy constantly.

Kenny Eastgate, leigh-on-sea, essex

Delia is quite right. She is intelligent. She knows her intellectual limitations. The culture we now live in, is full of highly vocal, stupid, badly educated people who believe they are experts. The people who bang on about organic food are usually middle class and financially very well off.They have never had to feed themselves or their families with good, nutritious food on a tight budget. They invariably shop at their expensive, niche, upmarket butchers / greengrocers or Waitrose. For them to shop at Aldi or Tesco is unimaginable. These pretentious people are very dangerous.They are quite dim despite their material and /or celebrity success. They don't know any poor people in the U.K. The only poor people they believe exist are in Africa and the Third World according to the books they read.That 's why they believe that by eating organic and buying "Fair Trade" they will save the planet whilst living in comfort in Richmond or Chelsea. You can't feed everyone with organic food.

John, Chelmsford, Essex

Well said,Delia.Organic food is a outright con, as the last head of the FSA said quite clearly.You should have included bottled water,another totally unnecessary,wasteful product.You have to admire the clever marketing,with its finely judged innuendo directed at the regular product.

Ed Welsh, Lampeter, Wales

Brilliant, Delia! I know everything you cook works perfectly and it will be a great to have the short cuts.

As for organic; the soil may be great but what about all the rubbish that falls from the heavens - airline fuel and other pollution. Nobody every seems to mention it.

leila , manchester, uk

While I disagree with nearly all that Delia has said today I am particularly confused by her statement that "If the whole world goes organic then the state of the third world will really be twice as bad as it is at the moment". Organic coffee, tea, chocolate, bannanas and many other foods are produced in these countries at fairer prices and often hand in hand with fair trade initiatives. Unfairly traded peas are unlikely to go far in helping people in developing countries earn a living wage.

Scott Bennett, Tooting, UK

Well said Delia. I am a foodie but recognise that I can afford to be, whilst the vast majority out there simply can't. Its all very well to recognise that organic food is often better quality, but the reality is that its expensive and the TV chefs are in danger of reinforcing the Britsh class system using food. I'd like to see more TV chefs promoting food that doesn't require expensive meat and fish - whole sections of Italian food are aimed at producing wonderful food from offal and other cheap materials.

Stuart, Johannesburg, RSA

I think this is massively irresponsible of Delia Smith. If it were not for these 'politically' minded food ambadassors, we would still all think that ready meals were nutritionally balanced. As for bridging the gap between junk food and chef style food, promoting frozen mash is hardly a solution. It is far cheaper to buy a raw potato and mash it yourself, and more nutritionally rich, than to buy frozen mash, which would also be more expensive. So much for trying to help the 'poverty' stricken. At least the celebrity chefs are trying to get us to cook from scratch, vary our diets and eat more interesting foods. Having a conscience when it comes to what you eat is no bad thing either. Whilst we may never reach the level of Jamie Oliver, at least trying makes some improvements, rather than reverting back to where we were 15 years ago.

Lauren, Liverpool,