In defence of Knorr

Marco Pierre White is no fan
of television, says Simon Mills
in The Times. He doesn't own
a TV set, never watches TV,
and often doesn't recognise th<
celebrities who appear on his
shows ("They are all off the
telly, so how would I know?")
But he is not publicity-shy. He
has been the face of Knorr
stock cubes since 2007, and
now he is fronting a campaign
for Bernard Matthews as well.
Critics reckon the Miehelin-
starred cook is rather letting
the side down, but White is
defiant. "It's all very well
making a stand for nice,
organically grown produce,"
he says. "But not everyone is
in the position to be able to
afford it. A busy wife and
mother doesn't have time to
make her own stock from
scratch. I low many families
could afford to put a chicken
on the table on a Sunday if it
wasn't for battery farming?
What about those digestive
biscuits you have with your
coffee? Are they made with
free-range eggs? Would you
suddenly stop eating them if
you discovered they weren't?
Of course you wouldn’t. Yes,
I know you have these TV
programmes where members
of the public get shown around
huge chicken farms and start
crying. Probably because the
film crew squirted onion juice
in their eyes. Boohoo. Come
on. Grow up. Let's live in the
real world, shall we?"