Letter: Each fruit should have its season

Sir: I was stirred by Mr Ernest Rosengard's plea on behalf of edible fruit in today's letters column.

We in rural Scotland perhaps suffer more from this problem than those in leafy NW1. We have Dutch tomatoes in the early months of the year which taste of turnips; West Indian bananas which go brown before they can ripen and can only be eaten when stewed; Belgian strawberries which taste of nothing at all, and avocado pears which are frankly inedible. I am not complaining here about a single local supplier; it is a fault shared by independents and supermarkets alike.

The problem, it seems to me, is twofold. The fruit needs to be picked when ripe and then sold and consumed on, effectively, short-order. But the real need is to get away from the notion that everything is available from wherever in the world all the year round. Could we not get back to the notion that fruit and vegetables have seasons, which should be respected: ie, plums in September, tomatoes in July, and swedes in January. In that way, we might avoid the consumer turn-off to which Mr Rosengard refers.

Yours sincerely, ALAN SCOTT Peebles, Borders 18 October (Photograph omitted)