Just take a look at the back of those packets of veg – the country of provenance is always stated and these days it seems that country is all too often one that’s very far away. Some even long-haul distance.

Now long haul flying doesn’t do us humans much good and it’s not a lot better for vegetables, which are often picked below their prime so that they can survive the in-flight battering better. And when they do finally make it onto your plate, their colour is diminished and their flavour poor. It makes much better sense for you and your family’s health to eat what’s grown here in Great Britain and this book, in partnership with the Soil Association, is your guide to getting the best all year round.

There is a surprising wealth of veg grown in the UK, and of course our range of cheese, fruit, meat and game is large too. We have over 4,000 Soil Association Certified organic producers who deliver food that not only tastes great but which respects the environment and protects the future. All we have to do is support them and this book tells you how with first a month by month calendar breakdown of what’s at its best and when.

Each foodstuff has two categories – At it’s Best and Available and each has next to it a number linking you to the recipes that make best use of it. There are over 200 excellent recipes from people like Sophie Grigson, Trudi Styler, Skye Gyngell and Atul Kochnar and all are easily achievable by the average home cook.

Also featured are pages on the actual producers, which puts a human face on the people who have turned their backs on the bad old day,s and who can assure you that what you eat has had an ethical journey all the way to your plate, and ultimately to your body and its natural defences. All the suppliers are detailed at the back.

This is a big book of ideas in all ways – recipe ideas that sizzle off the page and a seedbed of ideas to change the way we shop and eat.

{ISBN:1405340401}