Today sees the beginning of British Food Fortnight, an annual celebration of the food we produce and cook, which is growing more influential with each passing year.

But just how do we define the term 'British Food'? Does our traditional fare now embrace the curries, spicy stirfrys and pasta dishes that shape the way we eat today, or is British food still defined by established favourites such as boiled beef and carrots, apple dumplings and custard?

In her splendid new publication The Best of Modern British Cookery, (Grub Street Press £16.99), British food specialist Sarah Freeman says British food is created from a mixture of native and foreign elements. She sees it as a cuisine which is ever evolving and now, thanks in part to television and the talented and imaginative chefs who are creating a modern version of British cooking, it's capturing everyone's imagination.

One excellent way of understanding the way British food has evolved during the past thousand years is through the pen of food historian Colin Spencer, who gives us British Food - An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History , (Grub Street £25 hardback). This masterly account of our culinary heritage traces the rich variety of foods that are inescapably British, even though they originated elsewhere.

It's a seminal work, which attempts to revive our knowledge of the gastronomic importance of the British cuisine in the belief that we can be genuinely proud of it - yes, even our traditional British breakfast of kippers or bacon and eggs. Our mushy peas, crispy pork crackling and steamed steak and kidney puddings are not to be scoffed at either.

Such dishes are all mentioned in this remarkable culinary chronicle which spans a thousand years, beginning with Anglo-Saxon gastronomy and the Norman gourmets, and concluding with the rebirth of the British cuisine, the rise in demand for organic produce and the popularity of farmers' markets.

Coincidentally, the children of Oxfordshire will be given a chance to celebrate a thousand years of British food next year when Oxfordshire 2007's year-long feast of culture, special events and festivals gets under way.

It's hoped that by staging the country's first ever Children's Food Festival, as one of the highlights of Oxfordshire 2007, we will be able to transform young people's approach to food.

The festival, which is the result of a joint environmental, cultural and educational partnership between Oxford Inspires (the cultural development agency for Oxfordshire) and the Northmoor Trust conservation charity, will be a high point of Oxford 2007 - a celebration of a thousand years of Oxfordshire. It will take place on Northmoor Trust land, against the historic backdrop of Wittenham Clumps, which is why organisers found the catch phrase Munch the Clumps irresistible, and will be printing it on much of their literature.

They aim to turn the event into a wandering picnic, which offers children a chance to watch chef's demos, compete in cookery competitions, meet rare breed pigs and sheep and take part in hands-on activities which call on their sense of sight, smell, touch and taste. Organisers even plan to stage a mediaeval food tasting.

Six themed tents for dairy, meat, vegetables, bread, honey and spices will take the children through food stories, help them identify raw ingredients and become aware of just where our food comes from. Naturally, the emphasis will be on Oxfordshire produce. Nevertheless, the festival will also call on the herbs and spices and other exotic ingredients which add their distinctive flavours to our produce.

But the festival is not taking place until next July. First, we have British Food Fortnight, which begins tomorrow and continues until October 8.

Organisers have listed 14 different things we can all do to become involved: they include seeking out British food when we go shopping, by checking the label to see where it was produced. We can go out of our way to shop in local butchers, greengrocers, farm shops and markets that source their stock locally, and we can order local beer when we next visit a pub. By rejecting a children's menu that lists commercially-made chicken nuggets and beefburgers, we can make our mark by insisting on smaller portions of regular menu items instead.

Supporting pubs and restaurants that are offering a dishes created from local or British produces helps, too.

We can also explore food from different regions of Britain, cook a British meal for friends, plan a family outing to a food festival, visit our local pick-your-owns or rummage in the hedgerows for the last of this season's wild blackberries, and add them to an apple pie.

As the British Food Fortnight coincides with Harvest Festival celebrations, we could become involved with those, too, as you don't have to be a regular church-goer or have a particular faith to attend. And if you really want to celebrate British food, get a packet of herb or vegetable seeds and plant your own.

Now in its fifth year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of foods our country produces. One of the main aims of this fortnight is to convince us all that food which has not travelled thousands of miles to reach our plates really is worth seeking out.

To find out more, go to www.britishfoodfortnight.co.uk Note: Helen will be in attendance at Millets Farm Shop, Frilford, on Wednesday September 27, from 11am to 2pm, to celebrate British Food Fortnight by handing out recipes she has created from produce grown on the farm. She will also be happy to discuss the many interesting ways autumn fruits and vegetables can be cooked with anyone who would like to talk about food.