This week The Birmingham Post launches an initiative urging consumers to buy more local produce.

Today we unveil the findings of a survey we commissioned on how local restaurants view regional food...

As the latest high-profile food scare forces hundreds of products off the shelves of supermarkets and restaurant menus, the importance of fresh, unprocessed foods in our diets has never been greater.

Even before Sudan 1 was being talked about across the country, more and more consumers had been returning to their local greengrocer or farmers' market for their weekly produce.

Some restaurants are now proud to be serving up Lighthorne lamb from Warwickshire, asparagus grown in Evesham, or Berkswell cheese made in Coventry.

But how widespread is the use of regionally-grown products in our favourite restaurants? Is it business policy to use such foodstuffs? If chefs don't use local ingredients, why don't they? Would they like to but can't due to cost barriers or supply issues? And is it important to support your nearest producers at all?

To find out the answers to these questions and more The Birmingham Post commissioned a survey of regional restaurants to establish the use of regional food producers and to assess attitudes and perceptions of regional food in general. The results provide interesting reading.

Only 40 per cent of the 62 restaurants surveyed (40 independents, 22 part of a chain) said they sourced most of their supplies regionally, with more than a quarter sourcing all their food from outside the region.

Seventy- two per cent believed they got at least some supplies from regional producers and nearly two thirds (65 per cent) said they would like to source more produce regionally.

Among those which sourced little of its produce locally was Birmingham's Bank Restaurant, which said it aimed to source some regional produce but found it difficult.

Restaurant Bosquet, a French restaurant in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, said it had no policy to source regional food and said very little of the food it served was local.

Edmunds in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, said a quarter of its food was from across the region.

The restaurant said it took more time to buy regional foods but it did not cost any more. However, Hicks Brasserie Bar in Cotswold House, Chipping Campden, said 40 per cent of its food was locally-sourced, including cheese from Berkswell and Lighthorne lamb.

City Cafe in Birmingham, which is part of a chain, said more than half of its food ( between 60 and 70 per cent) was from regional producers, with meat bought from wholesaler butchers Aubrey Allen.

The Michelin-starred Mr Underhills in Ludlow, Shropshire, said the majority of its food (between 50 and 70 per cent) was sourced locally.

Only half of those questioned had a regional food policy, with more than 50 per cent believing it cost more to source food regionally.

Most (82 per cent) agreed that regional food allowed them to use seasonal ingredients, with more than half believing diners would prefer their food to be regional.

Most restaurants agreed that there was a good range of producers across the region, but 60 per cent saw the process of using them as more time-consuming.

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