I AM passionate about cooking and good food and it should be about having fun and exploring new tastes and ideas. But we also need to give a bit of thought to where our food comes from, who produces it and how.

You might be really surprised how much a simple choice you make for your Sunday roast can have an impact on the lives of farm animals. But if you think about it, the more you buy products from farmers who rear to high welfare standards the more you encourage them and encourage others to raise their standards too.

September 24 to 30 is Farm Animal Week - it's run by the RSPCA's Freedom Food, the charity's farm animal welfare scheme.

It's really about asking us all not just to chuck our shopping into the trolley on auto-pilot - as it is so easy to do - but to look at the labels on things like chicken, meat, eggs, fish before we buy them and make sure they have come from animals that have been reared to higher welfare standards.

So, please look out for labels such as the RSPCA's Freedom Food - not just this week but whenever you go shopping. I believe that animals that are humanely reared will produce a better quality product - so your choice will be good for farm animals, good for our farmers and good for you!

ANTONY WORRALL THOMPSON