The festival is all about passing on the passion and so by way of introducing myself, I want to pass on a little bit of mine. It all started with tomato sauce. A basic tomato pasta sauce was the first ‘proper recipe’ I ever cooked. I couldn’t believe how something so simple could firstly, be so delicious and secondly, be made by me. As I started experimenting, I realised that, the better quality ingredients I used, the better it tasted. For example, ripe tomatoes, in season, resulted in a staggering improvement in flavour. I then began applying this principle to other ingredients and finding the same, better produce = better flavour. Before I even knew or cared about the ethical reasons for buying well produced food, I had realised that this was the way I wanted to eat.

I learned that when you buy a quality product - an organic free range chicken for example – you can actually get more from your purchase. For example, roasting a chicken and then using the carcass to make delicious home made stock, ready for a deeply flavoured weeknight soup. There are few things more satisfying than making stock, such great reward for very little effort. Chuck it all in a pot and let bubble away on the stove, it will fill the house with its rich, comforting essence.

I soon started searching out new, exciting ingredients to experiment with, and food shopping fast became a pleasure rather than a chore. Now there is nothing I love more than visiting a food market, browsing beautiful, artisan products, all different shapes and sizes. Take a hand crafted loaf for example, packed with real flavour, boasting a mighty crust and contrast it with the generic, flavourless carbon copies you find in the supermarket aisles.

Of course I get caught up in my busy life as much as the next person but, whenever possible, I make the time for good food, it is the greatest pleasure in my life. As creator of the Real Food Festival, Philip Lowery says, ‘even in these financially constrained times, it’s possible to buy quality ingredients from alternative sources and to eat tasty, healthy food without spending a small fortune’. You’ll actually be richer in the long run, in more ways than one.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be blogging here as often as I can and even throwing in the odd recipe for good measure. So, signing off for now I shall just say this, let’s get back in touch with our food, support people who do it for the love and benefit our bodies and minds in the process. We deserve it!

If you fancy trying something different this coming weekend, how about my comforting rabbit lasagne (above)? There’s also a recipe for making your own stock.

Helen Graves writes Food Stories – a blog about her food adventures in London.

Read her review of last year’s Real Food Festival here.