SOMETHING needs to be done about what’s happening to our food.

Everyone loves a comforting crumble. The fruit can vary with the seasons, plums, blackberries, rhubarb and strawberry, gooseberry.

There is just something irresistible about a baguette, especially when it’s fresh out of the oven.

TODAY is National Potato Day. I love potatoes, but not just any potatoes. The red-skinned Rooster is supposedly Ireland’s favourite potato, but not mine.

THE word lovely comes up over and over again in the Ard Bia cookbook. Lovely extras to serve with cheese, or lovely extras to serve with the perfect steak.

KITTY TRAVERS loves ice cream. When she was little, her mum found her rummaging in a bin at the circus licking ice cream wrappers, oblivious of the clowns and trapeze.

MY FRIEND Camilla Plum from Copenhagen has been staying with me for the past few days. She lives about 45 minutes outside the city on a beautiful organic farm called Fuglebjerggaard.

GASTRONOMIC science students doing a Masters in marketing now have a list of evocative terms guaranteed to resonate with consumers who are seeking a more authentic wholesome product or eating experience — local artisan handmade, farmhouse, traditional and hand crafted.

SPORTS LOVERS are in a frenzy of excitement at the prospect of a sports fest for the next couple of weeks.

MY EDITOR asked me to write a piece on summer food this week for the Irish Examiner Food Festival. This would normally be so easy, lots of salads, a few sizzling barbecue dishes, homemade ice creams, granitas, jugs of fresh lemonade and big bowls of summer berries.