When you go down to the shops today, you're sure of a big surprise - because in the last few years, food produced in Britain has enjoyed a major renaissance.

Whereas most fruit, veg and meat used to be imported from all over the globe, these days more and more of our supermarket shelves are stocked with local ingredients.

Our meats are produced to some of the highest standards in the world, we have a seasonal country which produces diverse fruits and vegetables, a great heritage in the dairy industry and a culinary history of nutritious recipes.

"We've celebrated the wonderful produce of our land for centuries in this country during the harvest festival - British Food Fortnight is the modern equivalent," explains Alexia Robinson, founder of the annual celebration.

"The idea, very simply, is to make British people a bit more like the French and Italians, where love of their regional food is ingrained in their national consciousness."

Over the past few years, thanks in part to chefs like Rick Stein who have celebrated British food heroes and programmes including the Great British Menu, which really showed off the best regional produce the country has to offer, provenance has become trendy.

In a recent survey for The Guardian, 70 per cent of British shoppers said they would buy local food if they could, while 61 per cent of consumers questioned by the Meat & Livestock Commission said they want to know the origin of the meat they eat, and 80 per cent want to see origin on menus.

But how easy is it to buy local? Robinson says if you take a little bit of time, your whole shopping trolley can be bursting with British ingredients.

""When you're going down the supermarket aisle in a mad dash, take a moment to actively seek out British food in season. It's quite easy to find - look for the Union Jack or the quality marks used to identify British products," she says.

"Be brave. Don't just go for the ready meal option. Buy fresh meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, and draw inspiration from cooking programmes to use those lovely fresh ingredients that bring the best of British into your home.

"Don't feel that you can only use them for British food," Robinson continues. "Don't feel you've got to make Shepherd's Pie, you can equally use the best British ingredients for things like exotic curries."

3:08pm Tuesday 29th January 2008

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