I’m sure the baking industry would like more consumers to ’Just Ask’ whether the bread, pie or cakes they are buying are made locally or with British ingredients.

The ’Just Ask’ campaign, by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), was launched by the Prime Minister and David Miliband, the Secretary of State for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, at Downing Street in January 2007.

It seeks to reconnect the British consumer with their food and aims for them to seriously consider the choices they make when it comes to eating out.

If British farms, growers, local producers and small businesses, such as bakeries, are to have a future, the British consumer needs to know whether or not they are buying their produce. One simple way of doing this, is to encourage the consumer to ’Just Ask’.

The idea is to try and get people to repeat the mantra ’Just Ask’, when it comes to where the chicken in a pasty was produced or whether the apples in a pie are English, and so on.

This involves raising the awareness of both the public and those in the food chain, from policy maker to opinion former, as to the origin of the food - wherever and however it is consumed.

A number of companies in the foodservice sector have signed up to our campaign, including 3663 and Brakes.

The government also sees the campaign as an important way for bakeries and food businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.