I've just spent the day at a local food fair at 'The Fold', near Malvern. It's amazing when you pull all the local producers together in one place to discover just how many there are in any one area. I've noticed this at food fairs all over the UK and wish there was a way to let more people know about the huge variety of produce they could buy locally if they only knew where to go!

Today, I sampled a number of different breads, cheeses, jams and chutneys, wine, cordial and seasonal fruit and veg....all absolutely delicious and all the better for their freshness and there being next to no food miles involved. There were locally produced sausages and other meat products, apple pressing demonstrations, biodynamically grown veg, eggs, honey, beautiful fresh cut flowers and an amazing variety of locally grown chilli peppers!

Some of the produce was more expensive than its imported equivalent would have been in the supermarkets, but the prices were honest and reflected the true cost of producing food. I spoke with a number of people from different income groups who have made the choice to ‘buy local' wherever possible and those on low incomes had made adjustments in other areas to compensate for the fact that they were paying more (for some of the produce) than they would in the shops. One of the things people find when they choose to support local producers is that they are more careful about not wasting food...which saves money...and another thing lots of people do is to eat meat less often, but have better cuts when they do eat it.

I know that not everyone can afford to buy all their food from local producers, but if you can make a few small changes in other areas of your life it's amazing how good it feels to be eating good, honest, local and seasonal produce.