Knowing One End From the Other

I liked the Back to Basics column (May 27), but I wish you hadn’t recommended cutting the ends off the beans without explaining further. Back in the 1960s, my mother, who then worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that we shouldn’t cut off the little tender tips of green beans. These are darker than the rest of the bean, so have more vitamin A in them. They’re also delicious. The stem end, on the other hand, does need to be cut off because it’s harder to chew.

MOLLIE BOWLING

West Los Angeles