Delivery app riders pay a high price for the food we order

‘It is our own equivalent of sweatshops and chimney boys, and is a disgrace.’Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Nesrine Malik’s piece on the treatment of delivery app riders (When your food comes via a delivery app, the exploitation is baked right in, 19 February) ends with her saying that it gets harder for all of us to ignore their employment conditions. A trip to east London, which we often make to see our grandchildren, leaves you with no illusions. Bikes flashing past you in all directions, jumping red lights, and riders not wearing crash helmets. Frequently knocked off their bikes and poorly clad in the cold and the rain, delivery cyclists pay a price for the convenience they provide. The profit goes to their employers. It is our own equivalent of sweatshops and chimney boys, and is a disgrace.
John Beer
Farnham, Surrey

• Nesrine Malik is right that delivery app riders are under immense and increasing pressure to deliver, and this shows in the explosion of rider numbers in cities and the increase in their speeding on fast e-bikes through pedestrian areas. Their exploitation is “baked in” to the delivery system to make high profits for the app companies. However, there is a direct link between exploitation and rising consumer demand, so a simple solution for consumers is not to lazily use a delivery app, but to get off our arses and physically get the takeaways ourselves.
Fred Riley
Nottingham