Shop Local - The Telegraph 18 Sept 2007

Rose Prince on the best of regional food. This week: Penrith, Cumbria

The supermarket chains are under scrutiny again, awaiting the findings of a Competition Commission report that will examine their treatment of suppliers.

This time, if the chains come out badly, there will be calls for new regulation and a watchdog to oversee dealings between buyers and farmers.

The latter complain, usually privately, about the way they are squeezed on price to the point where they are forced out of business - witness the blanket closure of dairy farms all over the country.

But this investigation is not tackling the issue of local sourcing and supermarkets. Having recently returned from a holiday in south-west France, where local fruit, vegetables, charcuterie and cheeses are given pride of place in the Leclerc store in Gaillac, I approached the regular survey of British supermarkets with familiar gloom.

As regular readers of this column will know, the number of foods in supermarkets sourced locally is usually minimal.

In the thriving market town of Penrith, in the Eden Valley, the story is much the same but this is no clone town.

At least not yet. In spite of its convenient location by the M6, Penrith currently makes do with only one of the Big Four supermarkets, Morrisons, but a Sainsbury's store is planned for 2010 and locals will need to lobby to protect the butchers who loyally buy the lamb and beef that graze the nearby fells.

If one further piece of legislation is needed to curb supermarket dominance, it is a rule that insists the Big Four - which sell 80 per cent of food in Britain - have strictly controlled local buying policies imposed on them.

Such a law would be good for the landscape, reduce fuel consumption and boost regional incomes. How could any supermarket boss argue with a law that makes the British consumer a wealthier beast?

SUPERMARKETS

The Penrith Co-operative Society at 18 Barrowgate, Penrith, buys local produce when possible. It sells locally reared beef and lamb, as well as chickens from Frank Bird's farm at Langworthy. It also sells local potatoes, eggs and charcoal made just outside Penrith. Customers can become members and own shares in the store that pays dividends.

In contrast, the only local produce sold in Morrisons' Penrith store are Cumberland sausages from Waberthwaite. Supermarket shoppers wanting a good choice of local foods should try Booths or Asda in Kendal, although it is 20 miles away. Asda has pioneered a "hub" at Plumgarths, near Kendal, where local producers take goods for distribution to the nearest Asda, thus reducing food miles. Asda now has 15 hubs around the country and a team of regional buyers.

MARKETS

A farmers' market is held on the third Tuesday of every month in the market square. You can buy organic vegetables at the Tuesday market in Great Dockray. There is a fishmonger and a butcher selling local meat in the Devonshire Arcade.


The Old Smokehouse, Brougham Hall (01768 867772; www.the-old-smokehouse.co.uk)

Richard Muirhead's tiny smokehouse in the grounds of Brougham Hall is a local treasure. Most of the ingredients come from within Cumbria. The smoked salmon is superb, some of the best I have tasted. You can buy directly from the smoke house but telephone first. Mail order is available.

COOKING LOCAL IN PENRITH

Its Catherine-wheel shape makes Cumberland sausage ideal for grilling on the last of the summer barbecues. Cook it over Penrith charcoal (see above) with a few herbs. Cut pieces to serve in soft fresh baps.

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