ANY stranger looking at TV, radio and national newspapers over past few months could be forgiven for believing we've got a gourmet's paradise, a true foodie's heaven, here in East Lancashire.

Two pages in the travel section of one of Saturday's multi-supplement, heavyweight newspapers praising the quality of cooked and uncooked food to be found in the Ribble Valley was merely the latest of numerous plugs.

On the same day we had the Hairy Bikers, Simon King and Dave Myers, opening the 11th Lancashire Food Festival at that well-known temple to culinary art - Accrington Town Hall!

And two young apprentice chefs from Northcote Manor were getting ready to travel to Belfast for the final round of a competition to try to win a scholarship which will see them being sent to top establishments in London, France and Italy.

What's so great is that this focus on food isn't about a few French or Italian chefs opening extremely expensive restaurants and importing ingredients to make dishes no one but a few professional footballers can afford.

It's about truly locally-grown vegetables and meat being used by chefs who truly call this region home - and the rest of us buying produce from in and around Lancashire.

The result is we all benefit and as another food entrepreneur, Eddie Cowpe from Samlesbury, pointed out at the weekend our farmers will see their businesses grow strong.

He believes that we will see world food shortages as supply struggles to meet increasing demand from fast developing countries like China. They will in force us to turn back to our own farmers who have been hit by cheap foreign competition.

But it doesn't just make economic sense to buy local food. It's about protecting your tastebuds from blandness.

Strawberries air-freighted from Mexico or California, asparagus from Peru or green beans from Zambia and Tanzania taste as tired and lifeless as any of us would feel after such a long flight.

And we should all start boycotting this unseasonal veg along with meat which has been shipped halfway round the world or been reared in factory conditions. It has nothing like the freshness and flavour of beef and lamb from fields in the Ribble Valley.

Tastes are changing and it was fascinating to note the huge reported increase (around 40%) in the sales of free-range eggs in the first three months of this year - something which can only be put down to the TV campaigns by celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver.

Supermarkets, and especially regional chains like Booths, are putting huge emphasis on sourcing products locally and helping to promote East Lancashire as THE place for food lovers.

Wouldn't it be great to really establish an area like the Ribble Valley throughout Europe as a recognised rival to the best France or Italy have to offer for holidays combining great countryside and top notch meals?