Wiltshire is a county blessed with beautiful natural scenery and farmland, which produces a wide range of high-quality local meat, vegetables and dairy products, wines and beers.

Several award-winning companies are based in the region and to celebrate the wide range of tasty produce on our doorstep, as well as the farm shops and markets that sell it, the Wiltshire Times will be launching a campaign to buy and eat local food.

Inside the first issue of the Country Times supplement, free inside the Wiltshire Times on Friday February 29, there will be a comprehensive guide to the best local food and drink producers and sellers.

With so much conflicting advice about what to eat and whether to go organic, it can be confusing for consumers who just want fresh and delicious food.

Buying and eating local food has obvious advantages from helping the local economy to reducing food miles.

Food miles are the distance that food travels from field to plate. Agriculture and food now account for nearly one third of goods transported by road. Food miles matter because they contribute to carbon emissions and climate change.

Food sources have been in the news recently as consumers become more aware of where their food comes from.

Another advantage of buying local food is that you can either see where it comes from if you buy directly from the producer, or you can find out from your local farm shop or farmers' markets, visit www.wiltshirefarmersmarkets.org.uk to find out more.

TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver have been leading campaigns to stop people buying cheap, intensively farmed chicken and to opt instead for free-range, humanely-reared chickens.

Buying local chickens from a nearby farm or farm shop means that consumers can see how the birds are treated and be secure in the knowledge that the poultry will be fresh and delicious.

Wiltshire has a long tradition of producing high-quality meat - there is even a type of ham cure called Wiltshire cure.

Wiltshire was once known as the kingdom of the pig and the traditional Wiltshire cure dates back to the 1840s when the Harris family developed a revolutionary wet cure.

The process involves having the whole bone-in and rind-on sides of pork immersed in a special recipe of brine for up to two days. This technique is still used today, although refrigeration has moved on from the original ice-packed tub.

3:13pm Tuesday 29th January 2008

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