Food, glorious food

EATING local produce is good for you, good for your community and good for the planet too. And - in Yorkshire at least - it's just got easier, with a new guide to point you in the right direction - and make your mouth water.

Buying your food locally means:

You know where it's come from. You've probably driven past the sheep in the field, seen the potatoes and cabbages growing, met the producer in the pub or the post office.

Low food miles. Less traffic. Nearly half the lorries on our roads are transporting food from one end of the country to the other. Wouldn't it be simpler and quieter, if most of it came from just down the road?

Reduced transport costs means reduced overheads means better value.

Your money is staying in the local area, boosting the local economy.

Local character. You're more likely to buy individual produce with a flavour of the area instead of mass produced food which is the same from Perth to Portsmouth, Norwich to Nantwich.

Cheese, chutney and chocolate, beef and beer, cakes and carrots - there's a huge range of locally produced food and drink. Many of the producers are members of the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humberside, otherwise known as Deliciously Yorkshire.

The guide features some very well known names, of course - Bettys of Harrogate, York and Northallerton; Elizabeth Botham and sons of Whitby, the Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes. And others are becoming just as famous.

One of Deliciously Yorkshire's award winners last year was Sue Gaudie of Stamfrey Farm Organics, who makes organic clotted cream on her farm at West Rounton near Northallerton. One of the more unusual was Voakes Pies, near York, who won the Most Innovative Product award for their pork pie with black pudding and red onion marmalade - definitely a blend of traditional and modern.

There is, as you would expect from Yorkshire, plenty of marvellous meat - beef, pork, poultry, game and plenty of pies and sausages. But Langthorne's at Brompton, Northallerton have buffaloes too, and Iron Age pigs, as well as Aberdeen Angus. And who would have expected to find Africa's traditional dried meat being produced in a biltong factory near Ripon?

If you have a sweet tooth, there's the Chocolate Factory in Hutton le Hole, the Little Chocolate Shop in Leyburn, Choc-Affair at Naburn, near York and Angel Chocolates in a hayloft in Reeth. Or Beacon farm ice cream from Whitby, Ryeburn of Helmsley, Yorvale at York.

And to wash it all down there are plenty of Yorkshire brewed beers and ciders, sloe gin, herbal drinks and even water. There's lots of wonderful stuff, if you know where to find it.

Supermarkets are slowly making token gestures at stocking local produce. ASDA makes the best stab at it, but it's still the merest fraction of their stock. But at farmers' markets and farm shops you get to meet the producers as well, and the guide also tells you the best shops for Yorkshire produce.

Among the many outlets, Lewis and Cooper of Northallerton has been going for over a century, while Weetons in Harrogate is barely two years old, yet has already ranked as one of the Top 100 shops in the world in a recent survey.

Once you've got all this food home, the Deliciously Yorkshire guide also tells you what to do with it with an interesting selection of recipes from the county's top chefs. Some you might expect - Yorkshire Dales shin beef, slow-cooked Yorkshire belly pork, Swaledale goat's cheese souffle.

But there are surprises there too - Yorkshire tapas - which is a phrase and a recipe I bet you never thought you'd read. (Actually very good, very simple and very posh). Or chicken tikka in rhubarb mayonnaise. Definitely fusion cooking.

Yorkshire food is traditional, innovative and sometimes surprising. And as it's on your doorstep, you'd be daft not to give it a go.

Deliciously Yorkshire guide, £3.50, from farm shops, delis and local bookshops. For more details www.deliciouslyorkshire.co.uk

Glow girl!

BORED with black, feeling bland in beige, or washed out in white? It could be time for some drastic colour injection. Jolt yourself into high summer with shocking neon shades.

Early spring was a little daunting to showcase the 80s-inspired trend for glow gear, but we can all be braver with hemlines, prints and colours in the peak of summer.

''The bright fluoro look is one of the easiest trends to dip into,'' says Style magazine's fashion editor Sara Hassan.

''By adding just one colourful piece - a pink jacket, a bright belt, neon sunglasses, an eye-popping bag or a fluoro shoe - you can bring your look firmly into the here and now.''

Those feeling inspired by Christopher Kane's neon minis or Jill Sander's zingy brights should brave fluorescent styles head on.

''Avoid anything voluminous, flounced or frilled,'' Hassan warns. ''Instead, keep shapes simple, sleek and fitted.

Resolute neutral aficionados can still dazzle in neon with a flash of super-bright accessories. Fiona Wellins, Colour Me Beautiful consultant, says: ''If you want to wear neon but know it's not a good head-to-toe look for you, then simply bring it into your accessories. "You don't need to invest too much in this trend. Add a bright beaded necklace, bangles, a handbag or even a pair of shoes with a neon trim. If you want to be a little bolder and more creative then you can combine two colours in your accessories.''

A summer tan is the perfect accomp-animent for neon, so what better place to parade the fluores-cent trend than on the beach?

After a few

sangrias

or poolside cocktails, we're sure to have forgotten all about those inhibitions.

Fluoro fashions are guaranteed to make an instant impact... if you follow a few style rules. Wellins has this advice on how to get the neon knack right in your wardrobe:

* Wear shades of neon that suit your colouring.

* If you have warmer tones in your skin, eyes and hair, then oranges and yellows will work well for you. These colours also look great against a tanned skin.

* If your colouring is cooler, then opt for the blues and pinks.

* Less is definitely more with neon, but it is a fun look and you can experiment a little without going overboard.