美食拯救街道

Wherever you are in the UK, whatever brings you joy in food and drink, there's a category in these awards you can make a real difference to. And over the next three weeks, you'll have an opportunity to share with our judges the food stories that matter to you. So in this programme we'll set the scene. We'll hear from some of the judges and the backdrop to the categories in 2014. Our first stop, the high street where the future role of food is a subject of urgent debate.

I'm not the saviour of the high street. I cannot do this on my own. I'm a champion of it. I do this because I believe in it. I believe in high streets and I believe that they're important, social infrastructure and part of our communities and this country.

When retail expert Mary Portas appeared before MPs in September, she restated her belief that food will have a big role to play in keeping our high streets alive. Around the same time, a wave of reports had been published, highlighting the extent of the crisis in many town centres, increasing shop closures, declining footfall. In December, the government announced a 1-billion-pound package of support for high streets, all important context for one of the most popular categories in the Food and Farming Awards - Best Local Food Retailer, which for more than a decade, has shown what difference a great food shop can make.