When asked, people often claim that they care about the provenance of food. There has been some anger this week at Morrisons' stocking of Chinese apples in a store less than mile from Kentish orchards. Some 76% of UK shoppers agree or strongly agree that buying local or regional food – that is, food produced in the UK – supports jobs and boosts the economy. But according to research published this month by a major supermarket trade magazine, the provenance of food is the fifth most important issue for customers after price, taste, quality and brand.



This is the first week of British Food Fortnight, and a discussion among food writers and industry experts was held a couple of weeks back in the run-up to it. The debate revealed that while many people claim to care whether or not their food is British, only a small number make an effort to base their shopping around it. That's why, for example, Country Life (which is the only major British butter brand) has a relatively small share of the national butter market while imported butter hogs a full 75%. Lurpak is Danish, but while it once trumpeted its provenance with a proudly capped-up "DANISH BUTTER" around the brand name on the package, some of its recent adverts couldn't sound more British, voiced as they are by Penelope Keith.

The problem seems to be that in the public mind "good" British food is the rare-breed, artisanal stuff: forgotten pear varieties, heritage sows, veiny cheeses and delicate ales. It's sourced (not bought) from farmers' markets and small producers rather than supermarkets, and it pointedly isn't staples such as sliced bread, ordinary milk or butter. The French and Italians, and to a lesser extent the Spanish, simply assume that most of their food will be better than any other country's, but the bulk of British food does not and has not had the reputation for quality that it often deserves, and as a result, customers rarely bother to seek it out.

The advantages of buying British food are many. When you buy British meat you're signing up to much higher standards of animal welfare, as Jamie Oliver pointed out in the modestly named Jamie Saves Our Bacon. We avoid growth hormones in this country and our chickens tend to have far lower rates of salmonella than other EU chickens. Buying British usually means fewer food miles and a greater respect for the seasons, and it supports British farmers who have suffered a great deal in recent decades.

But it can also be more expensive. Because our pigs have more freedom of movement than their wretched Danish or Polish counterparts, it's more expensive to rear them. Many people on tight budgets – and some on less restrictive ones – quite reasonably resent being told to spend more on food by multi-millionaire celebrity chefs.

Elsewhere, strong branding can compete with national interest. At Tesco,

250g of Country Life butter is 10p cheaper than the same amount of Anchor or Lurpak, but Lurpak controls 42% of the butter market thanks to its relentless advertising. Many people may not realise that Country Life is in fact British, and I bet a fair few of them think Heinz is a UK company.

Current labelling rules only worsen the situation. The common European market means that governments are prevented from issuing labels that encourage customers to buy goods because they come from a specific country. That's why groups of manufacturers sign up voluntarily to schemes like Red Tractor or RSPCA Freedom Food, which push a national message only as a secondary point, whether quality or animal welfare.

There also seems something empty and faintly distasteful about foodie jingoism for its own sake. I don't spurn Peruvian asparagus merely because it isn't British and is environmentally destructive, but because it's almost completely tasteless after its refrigerated journey here. Previous government-supported "buy British" campaigns have either had limited impact or foundered altogether, from the "Buy British Campaign" of 1931 to the "I'm Backing Britain" scheme of the late 1960s.

There are clear advantages to buying food produced in this country and many of us claim to recognise them, but how many of us make an effort to seek it out wherever possible? Do you consciously buy any foods because they're British, or does the idea of buying British food appeal more than the reality?