Christmas food? It's all in Okehampton!

Christmas has crept up on us again... and about now we'll all be shopping for the perishable ingredients for the coming festive weekend. Okehampton People once again advises everyone to shop locally and keep keep the Okey pound right here in our town.

With the shops we have, you really can't go wrong. Let's start with bakers. You'll find Endacott's bread and cakes very hard to beat - and I bet there'll be few in the area that won't have at least one of their famous cocktail pasties in the next fortnight!

When it comes to meat we're spoilt for choice. Both Martins and Farmer Luxton's receive rave reviews... and here you're not just shopping local, but eating local, with all their meat being sourced from very close by. And if you fancy some very local cheeses, pop over to Curworthy at Jacobstowe, where they make manynationally-known varieties.

For fruit and veg, the display outside the Hall Farm shop in Red Lion Yard always looks so inviting - and much of their produce is fresh-picked on the farm near Petrockstowe. (Next time you go in, get them to register with Okehampton People. I've tried... You might like to give Toast a nudge, too!) The Beanfeast's got the fruit and veg, too, as well as lots of heathy bits and pieces - plus spices in bulk.

We're fortunate to have a full range of supermarkets, who at this time of year are all trying to outdo each other with offers. Here I'll only mention some excellent half-price Taylor's port at The Co-op and Waitrose doing a very good deal on prawns. For your celebratory smoked salmon you'll not better Lidl.

Those of you on the east side of town will already appreciate Budgens  at The Whitehouse Services, but if you've not tried it it's worth a visit. They have local vegetables (excellent and well-priced) and meat (lovely but expensive) as well as a good general selection of supermarket goods. Their beer and wine selection is as good as any in town - and there are always offers on both. They also have seasonal promotions - as the picture above shows!

If you've a favourite shop in the town, let us all know about it and why you like it. Find it in the business directory and write a review.

Happy (Christmas) shopping!