FINE FOOD AWARD GOLD MEDALS TARNISHED?

At a time when Team GB is performing minor miracles in Beijing it's easy to get a little blase about the real worth of gold medals. This year's Fine Food awards were contested by 2021 small producers and 4800 products and resulted in 46% of all participants receiving some grade of gold, even though only 220 products (5%) received the top-notch 3 star nomination. In the good olde days the traditional gold, silver and bronze format enabled onlookers, purchasers and the press alike to quickly distinguish the cream of the crop from the merely above average. Is it me or is this simply a cynical attempt by one of the most respected fine food institutions to raise it's profile? A truly ill-conceived idea if hard earned gongs are inadvertently belittled. This cynical piece of marketing reminds me of the 70's love affair with non-competitive sports and today's so called gold standard A-levels where 97% of all our our allegedly more intelligent youths now achieve pass grades. It strikes me watching the likes of reality TV that too much effort these days is spent championing mediocrity. We shouldn't be embarrassed that only a small number of us ever achieve real greatness because it gives the rest of us something truly worthwhile to chase. What a shame that such a historically sought after award has been so cynically devalued