Re your editorial (13 August) on the hazards of ultra-processed foods, one response to the obesity crisis would be to make home economics a national curriculum subject. Being able to buy good food and cook it well are life skills we all need. Without them, all of us, but especially our young, remain at the mercy of big food corporations.
Susan O’Halloran
Retired consultant paediatrician, Ormskirk, Lancashire
• Prof Pete Dorey makes a valid point about the second jobs MPs could do (Letters, 10 August). But volunteering at Citizens Advice does take serious training, and given the woeful understanding of the benefits system shown by so many MPs, I fear our clients would end up worse off from any encounters with them.
Catherine Utley
Citizens Advice volunteer, London
• The government has said that “Greenpeace’s criminal activity demonstrates that they are not a serious organisation” (Report, 10 August). Given lockdown fines, does that mean Rishi Sunak doesn’t believe his government is a serious organisation?
William G Connon
Hastings, East Sussex
• As a cyclist, I too am affected by potholes (Letters, 8 August). The more attention you have to give to the road surface, the less you have for everything else. But if motorists are worried about what potholes might do to their cars, why are they so ready to charge up kerbs and on to pavements?
Margaret Pelling
Oxford
• Re the digital divide (Editorial, 6 August), my local village of Broadford has opened a smart new toilet facility. Entry by smartphone only. Clearly elderly bladders are not welcome.
John Cayley
Ardvasar, Isle of Skye
