The campaign will be launched by the Country Land and Business Association in Westminster today - with Westcountry food served up for ministers.

Senior politicians - including Environment Secretary David Miliband - are due to take part in the launch with Dorset celebrity chef Lesley Waters from BBC2's Ready Steady Cook.

The scheme is expected to be given the full backing of Mr Blair.

Mr Miliband has previously said consumers "have a great deal of power when it comes to buying food", and has said buying local can reduce the distance food travels and therefore help cut emissions and help the environment.

He added "As well as influencing our health, the choices we make really do make a difference to our countryside, the environment and to tackling the biggest challenge we all face - climate change."

Last night, the initiative was backed by Westcountry hoteliers, restaurateurs and farming leaders.

It comes after the WMN's five-year Buy Local campaign to increase the amount of fresh local produce consumed across the region.

But the Government was also accused of "asking a lot of the British public" while doing little to cut food miles.

The Just Ask campaign will encourage the public to find out where the food on their plate comes from whenever they are out for a meal.

The CLA hopes to force businesses to realise "there is now a clear, and preferred, demand for locally-sourced, quality British food".

John Mortimer, CLA South West director, said: "We want the public to support our campaign by making sure that each time they buy a meal out - whether it's in a pub, restaurant or roadside cafe - they ask if the food they are being served is provided by local suppliers or, at the very least, produced in Britain.

"The key message is that British food is better for the environment, better for animal welfare and ensures British farmers have a future and so can continue to maintain our much-cherished British countryside."

Gail Buttery, secretary of Cornish Accredited Restaurants which champions local produce, said the benefits of the campaign were two-fold.

"It boosts the local economy because the money spent buying in ingredients stays in the area - but we are also noticing more and more people coming to Cornwall seeking out our members because we use local produce."

She added that the association, which now has more than 40 members, had seen "year on year more people planning their breaks around this local food trail".

Ian Johnson, South West National Farmers' Union spokesman, said eating out and convenience foods now accounted for around half of all spending on food. "It's a huge portion of the market. Both the high-end chefs and the more budget price places are making this kind of declaration because they realise that it is increasingly important to their customers.

"I think the campaign is a very good idea and it also is good that the politicians have at last twigged after ten years that farming is important and does matter."

Last month, the WMN revealed locally-sourced Christmas dinner ingredients were worth almost £20 million to the region's economy. It was also found that locally-sourced ingredients for a festive meal serving a family of eight also saved an ecologically ruinous 36,140 food miles.

Before today's launch, Lib-Dem environment spokesman Chris Huhne said Tony Blair was "asking a lot of the British public when his Government has done so little to tackle food miles".

He added: "The Government has refused to put a duty on air freight so it cannot be too worried about the air miles of apples from South Africa.

"We've also seen Government budget cuts to the organisation responsible for promoting British food. Farmers can't trust ministers on local food after the debacle of the single farm payments and Government inaction to break what the Prime Minister described over six years ago as the 'armlock' supermarkets have on farmers.

"More should be done to ensure customers are aware of the harm caused by food miles."

Next week, the Considerate Hoteliers Association will announce the winner of its award for the hotel or guesthouse that has done the most to promote the best that British Food has to offer.

The public are being encouraged to sign up to the Just Ask campaign at www.cla.org.uk/justask

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