By all means buy British, but why not make it Welsh?

With that in mind, I cheered when I learned that supermarkets will be encouraged to introduce ‘Buy British’ sections to their online stores, to boost the economy and cut our carbon footprint.

Why not go further, I say, and have a regional section for local producers, reducing transport further.

Farmers in my community will say that the best way to support them is simple: buy British produce or, better still, Welsh.

Last year’s shortages of fruit and vegetables should surely have been a cue to supermarkets rethinking their buying policies, to buy from our farmers rather than hauling food in from overseas.

Squeezing farmers on price has got to change too now that there are so many other factors like climate change and food security to be take into account.

Supermarkets demand that farmers supply them with food at costs that are way below the actual cost of growing it. It is a reason why many Welsh farmers and growers have turned away from vegetable and fruit production to grow cereal crops instead.

There can be no other reason for supermarkets to buy food that can be grown in the UK from foreign producers other than the cost of production being lower overseas. Not due to European farmers being more efficient but because we have strict labour laws, even stricter environmental controls, which make production costs way more expensive.

Giving consumers greater autonomy over food choices with a dedicated ‘Buy British’ section on supermarket websites is a progressive idea.

Perhaps it would even result in growers in this country thriving again, cutting the risk of us running out of food in the future.

It would also make eating seasonally easier for those who wish to do so.

Buying produce in season reduces the environmental impact of food miles in our shopping basket and fresh seasonal food often tastes better too.

If the last couple of years has taught us anything it is that food will be more expensive in the years ahead and that we will have to pay the correct price if we want our farms and countryside to thrive.

Generations of British shoppers have been raised to pay prices that are detrimental to our farming systems. It is a tough habit to break but the days of relying on cheap food from abroad are numbered.

Without action, Wales will become a country that cannot feed itself and we will pay the price for that shortcoming in myriad other ways.