If we don’t source worldwide we’d go back to the 1950s and 1960s, when you only got certain varieties at certain times of the year, and kids grew up thinking that fruit only meant oranges. Often, local suppliers are unable to provide the quantities that are needed, so although the supermarket may want to source from them, they can’t. Supermarkets are so popular because that’s not what most people want to do. At the moment there’s no viable alternative to supermarket shopping, and whilst we’re not against one, we have to be sensible and respond to consumers’ demands now.
Most supermarkets offer a mixture of locally sourced and overseas produce, and this is what we need – a balance. You could spend the whole of your Saturday going from butchers to greengrocers to bakers, etc If that’s what you want to do, fine. Nyetimber Vineyard, Gay Street, West Chiltington, West Sussex RH20 2HH (mail order 01798 813989). Pro-supermarket

“Supermarkets are responding to what the consumer wants – they’re busy people, they want convenience, they want to do a big shop at a price they can afford, and they want to do it quickly.

Nyetimber 1992 Premier Cuvee, pounds 180 per case including carriage. Independent wine writer Anthony Rose describes it as a fizz with “an aromatic toasty character and a firm backbone lending genuine elegance and finesse”. The vineyard is American-owned; the expertise, grapes and equipment French; but the Sussex soil is very definitely English. Mrs Tee’s Wild Mushrooms, Gorse Meadow, Sway Road, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 8LR (mail order 01590 673354)Wine Imagine, an English wine winning the trophy for Best Bottle- Fermented Sparkling Wine World-wide Thanks to Nyetimber Vineyard, it has happened. She organises group forays, and you can B&B with her and eat her mushrooms for dinner Average price, pounds 5 per quarter-pound. In season, she finds cepes, chicken o’ the woods, wild Oyster mushrooms, pieds de moutons, chanterelles, blewetts, trompettes de mort and girolles. If you have ever searched in vain for Gloucester Cross, Cornish Gilliflower or Royal Norfolk Russet, then this is the place to go Buy apples from the farm shop along with unfiltered juice.

pounds 12.95 (including carriage) for a 5lb box of at least four varieties. Brogdale Orchards, Brogdale Road, Faversham, Kent ME13 8XZ (mail order 01795 535286)Wild mushrooms For years now, Mrs Tee has picked mushrooms in the New Forest and sent her booty off to London’s chefs. Bite into Ann’s pasties and you will be overwhelmed by a rich, moist and spicy filling enclosed in a crisp buttery pastry Small orders, pounds 1.40 each plus P&P. The Lizard Pasty Shop, Sunny Corner, The Lizard, Cornwall TR12 7PB (mail order 01326 290889)Apples Brogdale Orchards house the National Fruit Collection. It is then cut at right angles to the spine, stuffed with chopped parsley and finally baked for hours in a slow oven Usually eaten cold and served with mustard and vinegar Sliced, pounds 4.68 per lb; on the bone, pounds 3.95.