Apples are synonymous with Autumn. There are 2,300 British apple varieties to choose from but ransack the supermarket shelves for native apples and you will be sorely disappointed. As we enter the height of the English apple season you will sadly find the New Zealand Braeburn, French Golden Delicious or American Empire varieties dominating the fruit aisles rather than the British Discoveries, Cox's and Laxtons. As for the Demelow's Seedling, Sir John Thorneycroft, Hoary Morning and other traditional British apples, they rarely crop up even in Farmers markets, due to them now seldomly being grown commercially. In fact it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Braeburn and Gala will usurp the traditional Cox's Orange Pippin for orchard space.

In 2005 the chemical 1-methylcyclophene, a gas which is piped into shipping containers to prevent the release of the natural hormone ethylene which ripens apples, was given the green light in Europe. This means that you can actually buy an apple up to a year old, although it looks 'just-picked'. The supermarkets are more able to control the pesticide and post-harvest fungacide residue found on British apples than they are to foreign imports and obviously, apples are far best eaten a few weeks after picking. Common sense would therefore dictate that by September the supermarkets should be swamped with British apples. However, due to cheaper imports and customer preference and expectation, the reality is quite the opposite.

That is not to say all British supermarkets don't stock British apples, but they are much harder to come by especially the less main-stream varieties. Waitrose has a commitment to selling 70% British produce when in season and stocks Cox's apples in all stores from October - March. Budgens buys 65% British apples during the apple season and sells no imported variety that can be grown in the UK. Sainsbury only imports apple varieties that are not grown in the UK, according to consumer demand. Marks & Spencer and Tesco import from all over the world but prefer UK-grown apples when the quality meets customer expectation. It is clear then, from the stocks on the shelves that the British consumer needs to be more demanding for their native fruit. The British apple season is a wonderful opportunity for the consumer to display loyalty to British Orchards by demanding English apples from the supermarket and by choosing Coxs' over Golden Delicious. Eating an apple should constitute one of your Five-A-Day not one of your 5,000 airmiles a day.

It should be easy to identify British apples. Most have a Union Jack sticker attached to them and if not then the bags, trays or shelf edge information should display a country of origin label. Farmers' markets are a good source of English apples during th Autumn. There are Pick Your Own Orchards such as Park Farm in Suffolk and Tullens in West Sussex where traditional apples such as Lord Lambourne and Jonagold are grown. Broomfields Farm Shop and Crapes Fruit Farm are examples of orchards that do mail order of a wide selection of English apple varieties to anywhere on the UK mainland. Yorkshire Orchards not only offer a website facility that selects an alternative British apple variety to an imported one but also offers apple tree rental. An annual fee will guarantee home delivery of all the fruit from the leased tree.

What better way to celebrate this year's British Food Fortnight than by feasting on British apples.

Apples and British Food Fortnight

• John Lewis stores around the country are running a competition for their chefs to design a menu to run throughout British Food Fortnight. Pudding dishes must include British Bramley apples. The winning dishes will be featured on John Lewis menus during British Food Fortnight.
• West Dene Gardens Apple Affair is running from Saturday 3 October to Sunday 4 October. Visitors can see over 100 varieties of apples grown in the Victorian walled kitchen garden, sample and buy apple based foods and drinks and take part in a range of appley themed events. For more information contact them This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

English Apples and Pears Ltd was formed in 1990 to organise and develop the promotion of the English Apple and Pear industry
For interesting articles on the origins of British apples [click here]
For information on Apple Day 2009 (21 October) and all the various events being run throught the UK [click here]
For an array of apple recipes [click here]