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The Taste of the British

THE TASTE OF THE BRITISH

Porridge, bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade, and two cups of strong tea – that was a real breakfast, a breakfast that made the miner's back strong, the student's head clear and the day's problems easy. But, people of the world, take out your handkerchiefs, because the news is sad. The British breakfast is dying. It's suffering from a terrible disease – cornflakes. The disease is spreading through the kitchens of the nation. More and more people can't resist – cornflakes are quicker ; you don't have to cook them. But that isn't all. There's another cruel killer ready to poison the dying breakfast : ‘instant' tea has been seen on a lot of kitchen tables. Like cornflakes, it's quicker ; it's more convenient.

Time in Britain is becoming more important than taste. You'll hear people say : ‘I had a lovely lunch. It only took ten minutes to cook.' Or ‘Let's have some fish fingers. They're so quick.' But what do they taste like ? I don't think people have got time to notice. Nowadays you can buy almost everything in tins or in packets – even the roast beef of England has been imprisoned in a plastic bag !

Some people haven't even got time to open a tin, so they buy their dinner at a ‘take-away' shop. They can take home a pizza, or a Chinese meal, or a fried chicken. And, of course, there's always the Fish and Chip shop. But even in the ‘take-aways' the story's the same – food is beginning to taste like the chemicals that are used to keep it ‘fresh'.

The British breakfast is dying. And it's trying to tell us something : ‘You are what you eat.' So, if our food becomes more tasteless, perhaps we'll become less interesting as well. And like frozen chickens, we'll have no real taste at all.

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1. The author of the text thinks the British breakfast is good for you.

2. More and more people are eating the traditional British breakfast.

3. Cornflakes are not as convenient.

4. People like using 'instant food'.

5. Some people don't think about the taste of their food.

6. Food in Britain today is the same as it was fifty years ago.

7. Take-away shops are convenient.

8. There are no chemicals in food.

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