I suppose it is about time I explained the significance of the title of this series of blogs. It is taken from Alistair Cooke's long running series of broadcasts on the BBC. Alistair reported weekly on events in the US to over 50 countries via the BBC World Service for 58 years, until his death in 2004 at age 95. While I don't pretend to have his stamina or his clarity of expression, I hope that you enjoy my letters as much as I have Alistair's.

As you may have guessed if you have been following this series, I am a lover of good food. Today I found that my workmates, in the main, are also "foodies". I suppose it helps that they are well travelled and have tasted the food in its original setting, but I know of plenty of people who travel but don't ever venture to try the local delicacies. I personally can think of no greater sin.

During discussions of all things food, I found out that a lot of foods are being ruined in America due to the use of corn products. Let me explain. Corn is very cheap, so where you may have seen sugar, fruit juice or wheat starch in products previously, chances are either now, or soon, it will have been replaced with corn syrup or modified corn starch. I wasn't able to determine if the "ruination" was as a result of changes in taste or if there were possible health consequences of this move.

In Australia we find that wheat starch is widely used, and glucose derived from wheat, for much the same reason. Wheat is plentiful in Australia. After William Farrer developed rust resistant strains, Australia has been able to grow enormous quantities of high-protein wheat. As a result of all of this wheat there seems to be a very high incidence of wheat intolerance, wheat alergy and coeliac disease. I don't have the statistics to hand, but I'd be willing to bet that we have a higher incidence than the US because of the use of wheat versus corn. I wonder how long it will be before corn intolerance and corn alergy becomes a part of the US scene.

Remember the ethnicity statistics I mentioned in the first of these letters? Well, I'm having a tough time believing them, unless at least half the workers in the retail, hospitality and service industries commute from out of town. I have yet to find a hotel, restaurant, shop or construction site that doesn't have a majority of hispanic staff. And please, if I have the wrong word and have offended anyone, this is not my intention. Australia doesn't have a proud record of race relations, so I should be the last to criticise. I am just confused by the weight that is placed on someone's ethnic background. You have to remember that in Australia something like 50% of the population is either from another country or has a parent from another country.

And for something completely different, I've been looking at the car registration system here and I must admit I think it has a lot to offer. We in Australia have a sticker that goes on the inside of the front window with the registration details. In the US (or at least in California - I can't vouch for the rest of the country) they have a month on the top left corner of the rear number plate and a colour coded sticker showing the year on the top right corner. This must make it so much easier for the authorities to quickly check registration details, as they are visible from quite a distance.

Well, it is time for a bit of a tipple and to put my feet up.