Those who have attended the CLA Game Fair when it has been staged at Blenheim Place will not need reminding that these shows are great fun and certainly not just for the green wellington brigade. The CLA Game Fair offers something for the entire family, including falconry, woodland crafts, ferret racing fishing demonstrations, garden displays, quad bike adventures, and clay pigeon shooting. There's even a family dog ring where dog owners and their companion dogs get a chance to participate in various fun activities. Organisers state it's now the world's largest countryside show and is actually 12 shows rolled into one, attracting in excess of 137,500 visitors.

This year the Game Fair, which is wholly owned and run by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), will be celebrating its 50th year.

One of the highlights of this anniversary fair is the Totally Food Show, which illustrates the important role played by the many specialist regional food producers. There are loads of catering outlets within this show area, a champagne and Pimms tent and a lively children's cookery theatre, too, which will be run specifically for youngsters who would like to have a go at cooking for themselves. This is the third year children visiting the game fair will be able to take part in cookery sessions in their very own theatre.

Under the expert guidance of nutritionists and home economists, children aged five to eight will get a chance to make picnic wraps, guacamole and salsa, while the nine to 11s will be able to have a go at making picnic wraps, tasty toppings and cook up some couscous. There's a strong ethos of 'have a go' across all the show's activities but the cookery theatre is by far the most popular with the youngsters. (Note that places in the children's cookery theatre must be pre-booked by going to gamefair.co.uk).

Orgaisers have staged a schools competition in conjunction with the Game Fair, too, designed to help pupils identify good nutrition and healthy, balanced, locally sourced food.

The competition is aimed at Key Stage One and Key Stage Two pupils.

The Key Stage One pupils will be offered a chance to produce an illustrated lunch box including local products and ingredients and demonstrate an understanding of where the products are from and why theirs is a healthy mix of foods.

Key Stage Two pupils will get a chance to design a balanced, locally sourced two-course cold meal for the school dinner menu and indicate where the foods can be bought and the distance that the food has travelled to get to the school kitchens.

The box winner will be able to see their lunch box design made up with real ingredients and displayed in the Totally Food Show area.

By encouraging youngsters to discover where the food they eat comes from, the CLA is reinforcing the thinking behind its Just Ask campaign, which encourages the public to ask where the food on their plates comes from whenever they are out for a meal in a hotel, restaurant, pub or fast food outlet. The campaign hopes to increase public awareness of the origin of food so that they can make an informed choice about what they eat.

From personal experience, I've discovered this is not always as easy as it sounds, as our first contact when ordering a meal is often the waiter, who has no idea where it comes from and often doesn't care. All too frequently a glazed expression comes over the waiter's eyes when asked this question, followed by an indifferent shrug of the shoulders and a resigned look as they offer, in a half-hearted manner, to ask the chef. This problem is further exacerbated when it's clear that the food comes from a box which was delivered frozen from a commercial food producer.

However, the CLA's campaign, which got under way in January 2007, is a positive step in the right direction and should certainly encourage catering outlets to think local when designing their menus.

Charles Trotman, rural economy advisor for the CLA, explained this campaign has been put to the government as they are aiming to get an Early Day Motion set before the House of Commons, calling for the origin of beef to be printed on all menus.

He stresses that we should not be ashamed of asking where our food comes from when eating out. "It's worth reminding the readers that they are the buyers, and as with everything we buy, we are entitled to ask questions before making a purchase."

"Besides, there's a marketing advantage for food outlets who state their beef is local - it provides such a positive advantage we can't understand why more pubs and restaurants don't see this."

He went on to say that visitors will discover that the Just Ask theme runs through all activities in the Totally Food Show, including the series of demonstrations by celebrity chefs, who will be stressing the importance of knowing the origins of the food we eat and menu transparency.

Chefs demonstrating at the fair this year will include Rachel Green, a TV chef and passionate campaigner for local produce, Viv Harvey, who has had more than 30 years in the British Meat Industry, Colin Capon who was once personal chef to King Hussein of Jordan and the team captain of the British gold medal-winning team at the Culinary Olympics.

Also there will be Masterchef winner Ross Burden and Mary Berry, author of numerous cookery books, including many written especially for those cooking with an Aga.

Demonstrations will begin each morning at 10am and continue throughout the day until 5.30pm. Many of the ingredients they use during their demonstrations will be featured in the regional food tent.

The CLA Game Fair takes place in the grounds of Blenheim Palace from Friday, July 25 to Sunday, July 27. To buy your tickets on line, or for further information, go to gamefair.co.uk or phone 0844 8480990.