I DISAGREE with Richard Bridge’s comments (Letters, January 7) when he states that “most cheap food is over-processed junk, while good-quality, nutritional food costs more”.

A nourishing meal can be made from scratch very cheaply and quickly. All you need is a good cook book, which you can purchase from a charity shop if you cannot afford a new one. You do not need to eat meat every day and vegetables cost very little. Processed food is full of fat and salt.

Mr Bridge questions why poor people must never make poor choices. Well, let’s face it, they cannot afford to make poor choices.

My parents were poor but my mother always had a wonderful dinner ready for us every evening. She taught me to “make do and mend” and always to save on a regular basis. A lot of ladies these days do not even know how to sew on a button.

The best advice I have ever been given was to write out my week’s recipes and then shop for only those ingredients. This way there is no waste, and if there are any vegetables left at the end of the week they can be made into soup.

Jenny Hilton, Holgate Lodge Drive, Holgate, York.