Eating in step with the seasonsHow many of us, used to seeing apples all the year round on supermarket shelves, know when they are actually in season in this country? The answer, you may be surprised to learn, is September, October and November, with October being the prime month. At other times of the year, do we really need to eat ‘fresh' apples flown all the way from New Zealand, with the food miles that that entails?

It has been calculated that half the vegetables and 95 per cent of the fruit that we eat in the UK comes from overseas, and that agriculture and food account for nearly 30 per cent of the goods trucked on our roads. Together these factors combine to make food responsible for a third of the impacts on climate change made by UK households.

How can we address this problem?

Marguerite Patten, a legend in the food world and the BBC's first television cook, was interviewed recently on BBC Radio 4. She reminisced about life before the war, when only a quarter of British households had a fridge, and the restrictions imposed by rationing, both during the war and for several years afterwards.

This called for a back to basics approach, using the seasonal ingredients available at the time with a measure of creativity, which is, after all, the hallmark of a good chef. The meals she concocted at the time were not just nourishing, but reportedly delicious.

In the ‘Why Seasonality Matters' section of his website, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, famous for his River Cottage television series, says that ‘shopping and cooking seasonally is not a high-minded duty or restrictive chore, but a liberating pleasure.....In a world where the production and marketing of food have gone mad, seasonality is sanity. It implies freshness, good taste and even good health'. He gives recommendations month by month, and a mixture of traditional and innovative recipes.

You can also look for guidelines on seasonality on a number of other excellent websites. Among these are eat the seasons, with a regular ‘what's good to eat this week' section, and The time is ripe, a Manchester based website created by The Kindling Trust, but still broadly relevant to your area of the UK.

The Cookery Club is also worth a look at, while Food Glorious Food is a National Trust campaign which aims to engage young people and their parents in the growing, buying, eating and celebration of local and seasonal food. There is also an events section where, as they say, you can haggle with farmers, taste food, win prizes and grab your own seeds.

So what's seasonal in June? Among your options are:

• Vegetables: asparagus, aubergine, beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, courgettes, cucumber, French beans, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radish, spinach, spring onions, tomatoes, watercress.
• Fruit: cherries, gooseberries, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries.
• Herbs: bay leaf, fennel, mint, parsley, rosemary, tarragon.
• Meat: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, pigeon, quail, venison.
• Fish: carp, chub, pike, salmon, tench, trout.

At the far end of the year, among the other delights that December has to offer, are partridge, pheasant, mussels, oysters and scallops. Do remember, however, that if you choose to eat fish, be selective when buying from restaurants or shops and check that seafood has been sustainably caught.

And where is the best place to get your food? Obviously, unless you grow your own, shopping locally is your best option. Use a friendly greengrocer or butcher who is happy to give you advice, join an organic food box scheme, or go along to a farmers' market.

Although the latter are not necessarily cheaper than shops, you can be assured of quality, and you may find bargains when there is a glut of seasonal produce.

Report by Simon Laman.