What's the background to the campaign?

With supermarket and convenience store prices having risen by six per cent in July alone (source: Office of National Statistics) - the largest rise since march 1992 - many of us are again questioning what we buy and where it comes from and the role of local food producers is becoming ever more important. As more of us ask searching questions about food miles, provenance and quality, so the demand has increased for sympathetically grown food we can trace and trust.

The National Farmers' Retail and Markets Association (FARMA) believes that farm shops, farmers' markets, pick-your-own plots, box schemes and other means of selling direct by farmers are worth about £2bn to the UK economy. This, however, accounts for just 2% of the British grocery market. FARMA says 30% of us shop at farmers' markets, but that 92% would do so if the opportunity were available to them locally.

It seems we don't need convincing of the benefits of shopping locally and eating locally produced food - among them, improved nutrition, knowing the origin of the food you eat, reduced food miles, reduced packaging and helping the local economy. 

That's why Aga has decided to document again the role played by farmers, smallholders and artisan producers, this time turning the spotlight on those who buck the trend for the mass-produced by providing us with real food created with real passion.

How will it work?

A photographer and writer have been charged with the task of recording how the best of British local food is produced and the project - which began by focussing on Norfolk - should again provide a fascinating insight into how the finest local food is produced and by whom.

Aga believes passionately in the importance of local food. According to a report by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 86% of us believe Britain should be a farming nation, but only 18% of us buy local food. Aga wants to change this, which is why the company has launched its Local Life campaign.

How can I get involved?

The initiative - which will begin in September - will see producers invited into Aga stores throughout the country to talk about the efforts to which they go to ensure the very highest standards in their produce.

The events will be interactive and central will be tastings, so visitors will be able to sample produce. Usually, an Aga demonstrator will also be cooking, with the emphasis on inspiring people to use food grown or produced locally.

The Local Life national campaign is designed to showcase the finest produce and, in some small way, say thank you to our local food heroes. The campaign will also underline the link between the world's best food and the world's best cooker.

Who are the first Local Life heroes?

Here are four local food producers who typify the values of fresh, local, organic and artisan food produced to the highest standards while minimising food miles and any carbon footprint.

Name
Delaval Astley

Business
Back to the Garden, Letheringsett, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 715996
 
Why a local hero?
Delaval's 300-year-old barn is stocked with a huge array of meat, fruit and vegetables, most of it organic and much of it grown on his own farm. No chemical fertilisers or herbicides are used and all fields have 6m margins, which are good nesting grounds and wildlife corridors. The farm grass-fed cattle are not intensively fattened and no antibiotics are used. The sheep are not dipped or routinely wormed and chickens and turkeys are free range. The farm shop deli stocks a fantastic range of British cheeses and organic charcuterie

"We take a good deal of care with every aspect of what we do, from farming and welfare through to the recipes we create and the way the food is cooked.  I don't like the word 'foodie' as it implies one is over the top about food. Everything is used with concern. We're delighted to be a local hero - it's a term that's used lightly, but I think it really does apply to what we do.

"We produce a lot of food and sell it all locally. Often the food cooked for the shop is the kind of basic food that has been completely degraded by mass production, food such as Scotch eggs, sausage rolls and quiches. We make them with the proper ingredients. Food is beginning to take its proper place in people's lives and we're no longer content to eat the rubbish we used to.

"I always had a vision that the shop would be the final link in the chain. Everyone has talked about connecting the consumer with the land, but I felt that the farmer had lost the connection with the consumer and I wanted to change that. I wanted to get back to the idea that good food is produced by good farmers."

Name
Desmond MacCarthy

Business
Wiveton Hall Fruit Farm and Café, Wiveton, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 740525

Why a local hero?
Wiveton offers a constantly changing range of seasonal berries and vegetables, freshly picked (or pick your own from mid-June onwards). The range includes asparagus, strawberries, globe artichokes, carrots, potatoes, broad beans, tomatoes, squashes, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, and raspberries. The café also serves honey from its own bees, free-range eggs from its own hens and free-range pork and bacon from its own pigs. The Wiveton Hall pigs are mostly Gloucester Old Spots, a rare breed famous for its flavour and hardiness. The sows farrow naturally on lots of clean straw, in large, airy stables from where they can also wander into a sunny outside enclosure. The piglets have an additional infrared lamp in a secluded corner.

Name
Rebecca Davis

Business
Earthy Eaters, North Barsham, Norfolk. Tel: 07810 046113

Why a local hero?
Rebecca spent her childhood in the country, where her family grew their own vegetables and were pretty much self-sufficient. It was this start in life that made her feel strongly that she'd like to begin small-scale production of eggs, blueberries, speciality herbs and fruit and vegetables. Earthy Eaters is a fledging business, which began in the spring of this year. Rebecca has a Braemar cockerel, called Sir Lancelot, and 40 bantams and farmyard hens. From the autumn there will be an acre of blueberries planted, as well as an acre of speciality herbs. Earthy Eaters sells its produce through small-scale local outlets and Rebecca feels strongly that it's important for the food she produces to be enjoyed by local people.

 "I'm honoured to be considered a local hero. Everything I do is on a small scale and my business is just getting established, so it's great to be featured in this way.

"I think it's important to put something back into the local community and I firmly believe that local food is the future. It's good for people to know where their food comes from and, of course, eating local produce is a great way to keep your carbon footprint low."

Name
John Griffin

Business
The North Norfolk Fish Company, Holt, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 711913

Why a local hero?
John places the emphasis on high-quality fresh local fish and an extensive range of interesting dishes.# Local delicacies advertised on a blackboard include crab, oysters, mussels and shrimps.

Wet fish includes long-shore cod, monkfish, sea bass and sea trout. There are beautiful fresh scallops and the naturally oak-smoked haddock is sublime, with no artificial colouring. Sliced cold smoked salmon is smoked over peat and fish cakes and fish pies are on sale in the shop.

How you can love Local Life

As part of Aga's national Local Life campaign, local food producers have been invited into Aga shops throughout the UK to talk about what they do to ensure the best possible produce. Often the events will also feature a presentation by an experienced Aga demonstrator.

Here are some of the highlights of the programme of events.

3 September
Adlington with Marcia Poole

5 September
Shrewsbury with James McIntosh

6 September
Inverness with Sue McGinty
Chester with Phyl Lomas
Orpington with Diane Van Bueren

10 September
High Wycombe with Marcia Poole

11 September
Cirencester with Marcia Poole

13 September
Hampshire with Diane Van Bueren
Lincoln with Dawn Roads
Harrogate with Richard Maggs
Kidderminster with Peter Hughes
Bath with James McIntosh
Carlisle with Margaret Anderson
Tunbridge Wells with Sue Wrigley
Derby with Sue Dunleavy
Knutsford with Phyl Lomas
London, Aga will be at the Thames Festival on Southwark Bridge

18 September
Cobham with Deborah Miller
Truro with David Pengelly

20 September
Sutton Coldfield with James McIntosh
Horsham with Peter Hughes
Kendal with Margaret Anderson
Sheffield with Sue Dunleavy
Helensburgh with Gill Fish
Aberdeen with Sue McGinty

21 September
Peterborough with Sue Eggleston
Edinburgh - Scottish Food Festival

23 September
Thame with Mary Berry

24 September
Machynlleth with Peter Hughes

26 September
Nantwich with Trish Dunbar

27 September
Nantwich with Trish Dunbar
Glasgow with Lesley Cairns
Wilmslow with Phyl Lomas
Adderbury with Sue Eggleston
Telford with Dawn Roads
Edinburgh with Sue McGinty
Perth with Gill Fish
Norwich with Mary Kemp
Holt with Chrissie Hill
Alton with Peter Hughes
Lidlington with James McIntosh

28 September
Nantwich with Trish Dunbar
Birmingham Mailbox with Peter Hughes
Cardiff with Richard Maggs

Visit www.aga-web.co.uk/locallife/ to find your nearest Local Life event