Will hydroponically grown tomatoes pass the taste test?

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/oct/06/will-hydroponically-grown-tomatoes-pass-the-taste-test

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Some 60 years ago, you printed a letter of mine lamenting the loss of the fine taste of tomatoes. Things eventually got much better and tomatoes became worth buying again. Now we learn that tomatoes are to be grown hydroponically, ie in water plus nutrients but no soil (Huge low-carbon greenhouses to grow 10% of Britain’s tomato crop, 3 October). Do I have to dip my pen in the inkwell again to wonder whether such tomatoes are going to have any taste?Cherry LavellArlington, East Sussex

• You say the tomato greenhouses are “one-and-a-half times the size of the O2 in London”. Not many people outside the revered city know the size of the O2. How many Birmingham Symphony Halls is that?Dennis HawkinsLeominster, Herefordshire

• John Crace’s musings (Who hasn’t mislaid their car? Ours went missing for six weeks, 5 October) reminded of the time I was crossing a car park in Lymington and spotted a bewildered woman obviously “on the search”. “Lost your car?” I inquired politely. “No, that isn’t it,” she said. “I just can’t remember which car I came in today.”Geoffrey BullMilborne St Andrew, Dorset

• Re your Downing Street photos (4 October), can we have a whip-round to buy a full-length mirror for Andrea Leadsom to check before leaving home? What is she wearing? Maybe also for poor Dominic Cummings?Ann StroudDorchester, Dorset

• Thomas Eaton (Quiz, Weekend, 5 October) asks what animals are known to hunt and kill great white sharks. I answered killer whales and humans. Can I claim an extra point?Anna WatsonLondon

• Thanks for the Dinner supplement in Saturday’s edition. Unfortunately, my copy was missing the instructions as to what time of day this meal should be eaten. Any suggestions?Pete BrookLlanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey

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