Dietary requirements? I've never seen a better symbol of our decline as a society

AS THE capital approaches peak festive and our restaurants advertise their seasonal offerings of "vegan and gluten-free set menus" for our get-togethers, this is my merry pre-Christmas message to readers.

- Rachel Johnson

'Tis midwinter. The potato harvest this year is half the size of five years ago. Shortages of aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are set to last till May. Brussels sprouts, we are told, are going to be smaller. This year's must-have gadget is an air fryer. Thanks to cozzie livs (what kids call the cost-of-living crisis) shoplifting is endemic and a slender £4 packet of smoked salmon has a chunky plastic anti-theft tag attached.

In theory, then, we should be living like our forefathers did in the Fifties, making thrifty store-cupboard suppers and only eating meat once a week...yet nobody I know has got the memo.

London society is far too encouraging of food fads and preferences. This is not sophisticated, it's soft to the point of degeneracy. I long to see a return to bracing intolerance when it comes to what we put in our mouths - like the fridge magnet I have which shouts "You'll EAT it and you'll LIKE it!"

Almost any emailed invitation to an "event" irritatingly demands data when it comes to "dietaries". I have one dietary requirement: food. Did they have "dietaries" in the dreary Fifties, I feel like writing back testily (rationing only ended in 1954). Do they have "dietaries" in the Sudan?