But for one Yorkshire farmer, cutting down on food miles is more than a latest fad, it's a commonsense business practice he has been pursuing for more than 15 years.

Pig and arable farmer Martin Backhouse, who farms from Goole Fields, in East Yorkshire, with his brother Nigel has been dealing with a well established team for nearly two decades.

The chief slaughterhouse he uses, Richard of Howden, is less than a mile from his farm. On top of that, the main customer for the pigs he produces is butcher Philip Parkin who operates just two and half miles away in Howden – meaning that, to use Mr Parkin's expression, the arrangement sees the meat go "from pork to fork in just three miles".

In the days when more and more farmers find themselves dealing with larger corporations, the arrangement between the three men harks back to happier times for farmers, when local markets and businesses provided the lion's share of their customer base.

Mr Backhouse is the fourth generation of his family to farm from Couper Farm. His great-grandfather moved to the area in 1912 and his family have operated from there ever since.

The farm initially was arable but when Mr Backhouse began to take a greater role in its operation in the 1970s he decided to start bringing pigs into the equation.

He said: "I decided to diversify, part of the reason being that in the 1970s there were a lot of pig farms that seemed to be doing quite well. As time went on a lot of the pig farms that were of a similar size to us were going by the wayside so we decided to move to more intensive pig farming."

He used to sell them at the old market in Goole, which has closed since the outbreak of foot and mouth disease and never reopened.

However, Richard of Howden, on Goole docks and run by Richard Skowronek has remained a strong business partner over the last 15 years.

To this day Mr Backhouse still sells him about 50 pigs at a time and the arrangement between the three businesses continues to prove a strong one.

Mr Backhouse said: "Why go anywhere else when he is just down the road – there's no point in travelling 35 miles away. It is always better to deal with people on a one-to-one basis.

"With bigger companies they tend to dictate the process."

Keeping his business local has meant that Mr Backhouse has managed to weather some of the storms which have hit the farming community in recent years.

The 2001 foot and mouth outbreak meant that restrictions were placed on the movement of livestock.

However, with Mr Skowronek's abattoir under a mile from his farm, he fell within the zone and could get his pigs there for distribution. However, today's crisis engulfing the pig industry is taking its toll on the farm.

Increasing costs for fuel mean that times are tight for all pig farmers and the effects of the restrictions imposed after last year's foot and mouth outbreak have only recently begun to subside.

"This July we will have made a profit, the first time we have done so since last July," he said.

"I do not think the public realise what is needed to be done to make a farm turn a profit.

"We have to make massive reinvestment costs. The barns that we use, you are lucky if you get 20 years out of them – and they cost £100,000 to replace. In this area farms are getting bigger and bigger and the smaller farms cannot compete.

"People are more interested in buying local produce and will pay a premium for it as they know its of high quality – however there will always be a limit on what that premium may be."

From his 200-acre site he also grows his own wheat and barley to feed his pigs and runs 200 sows from the farm.

Since changing tactics to focus chiefly on pigs, the industry has undergone a great deal of change. But Mr Backhouse's relationship with Mr Skowronek and Mr Parkin has stayed virtually the same.

Mr Skowronek, the second generation of his family in the business and long-time supporter of Howden Show, said: "Today you hear everybody talk about food miles but to me, why should it be travelling?

"The furthest we go is Hull or Selby. The people we deal with like to buy local produce because they want to know what they are getting."

Mr Parkin, who eventually ends up selling the pork to his customers from his shop, Parkin Family Butchers, said that the meat he gets from the farm has always been a popular seller. Growing interest among shoppers in buying local produce means that the meat from Mr Backhouse's farm is increasingly going down well with customers.

"As a business we have never really made customers aware of where it comes from – we have just done it.

"It's just been a good arrangement which has worked for nearly 20 years, but we have never blown our own trumpet about it."

Mr Parkin, who also buys beef from a farm north of Howden, said that having so little travelling between the source destination and the store is not only the best thing for the environment, it also means a better quality product on the customer's plate.

The trio may be many years ahead of their time in recognising the importance of food miles, but they have gradually seen in recent years more and more farmers choosing to follow their practices.

Mr Parkin added: "It is interesting to see how people have jumped on the bandwagon."