I sense a growing backlash to supermarkets in this country that is, from my point of view, very welcome. However, at present, supermarkets are far from worried. The reason is simple, there is almost no competition to draw people away; customers may be as discontented as hell, but if they have nowhere else to shop, they are stuck.

A small flash of hope has been poking its nose over the distant Horizon in the form of the farmers market. These occasionally exceptional events, such as the one in Stroud, Gloucestershire (pictured here), can really help bring not just good food to the table, but the excitement and fun that should surround food shopping. And in their own way, they are achieving this. But there are problems; problems that stop the farmers market making the full difference that it should.

Tesco - helping themselves

But surely, the result of this action will see a possible explosion in supermarket numbers. Where you had 1 or 2 massive, tasteless companies, you will now have 3 or 4. How does this, therefore, balance against the recent worries that the supermarkets are directly responsible, possibly even actively responsible, for the death of the British High Street?  

If ever a campaign was ddomed to long term failure, this would surely be it. But if ever there was a more worthy campaign, however doomed, I have not seen it.  Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has fast made his name as someone who cares where his plateful originates, and has built a successful business and TV strand on the back of it. The various outing s of the RIver Cottage brand has become famous, though maybe to a more select few than it deserves.

Hugh's latest presentation has been that of his Chickens Out campaign, with which I am proud to associate myself. The chicken out, in this case, refers to getting chicken out of the barns and back to the pastures and woodland where they belong and where they are happy and content. But this is not some puritanical vegan plea, this has a worthwhile selfish motive, as well as a caring one.