Hot tip
Local Producers of Good Food in Cork the revised edition, compiled by Myrtle Allen and Fawn Allen, has just been published by Cork Free Choice Consumer Group. For details about the group, contact Caroline Robinson at 021-7330178; www.corkfreechoice.ie
Check out your local farmers' market. Buying directly from the food producers is often cheaper and fresher. You are encouraging sustainable agriculture and supporting your local community.
Get some exercise: lobby your TDs and MEPs to provide cycle lanes and footpaths on all roads. Or consider walking to school with your children when the weather's fine!
Organise a rota with your pals so you don't have to bring your children into the supermarket. According to James McNeal, a professor of marketing, child pester power is responsible for 75% of spontaneous and unintentioned food purchases. If you don't have junk in the house, kids can't eat it.
Oatmeal has long been regarded as a healthy addition to the diet and not just in porridge.
Oat Millers of Ireland, which incorporates Flahavans, Odlums and Whites Speedicook, has produced a summer recipe collection which is available online at www.oatmillers.ie, or send an email to info@oatmillers.ie, or phone 01-6789762.
The Oat Millers of Ireland, Huband House, 16 Upper Mount St, Dublin 2.
