We know him as the bassist from the hit rock group Blur, we've seen his headline performance at Glastonbury, but did you know he's also one of Britain's best-known cheesemakers? Putting his rock n roll career to one side, Alex James now resides at his dairy farm in rural Oxfordshire, making royal cheese.

Taking part in the Sainsbury's Eat Britain campaign, Alex urges the nation to look for good-quality food locally. As the new cool of the 21st Century, surpassing celebrities, consumers are on the search for food that tastes great. With exotic imports become readily available in our supermarkets, have we overlooked what's right here on our doorstep?

Keeping it British is the focus of the Eat Britain campaign. It looks into environmental issues such as imports and food miles by reducing the carbon footprint for transporting food to the UK. France may be first thing that pops to mind when it comes to great cheese, but Alex says "we've got more varieties of cheese in Britain than there are in France, they have generations of enthusiasm and experience, but we have that zest."

Growing focus on associated environmental issues has created different reports and views in which we should exercise with caution and common sense. Alex explains "food miles are important, but they can be misleading", as one may suggest eating lamb from New Zealand actually creates less food miles than acquiring one from the UK. "I'm a sheep farmer, so that breaks my heart to hear, because I love British lamb."

As a food producer, Alex also suggests we should look into the quality rather than the quantity of what we eat. Good-quality food is not necessarily a financial drain, as tasty food, or in his case, specialist variety cheese gradually becomes more mainstream and affordable to the public.

With his rock roots he may not fit the profile, but when it comes to cheese, he's a real enthusiast for the British food industry, and focused on turning it into a main global influence. Not only is the campaign target to increase public appreciation for local good food, but it's also to develop the enthusiasm of passionate farmers and producers just like him, into something more mainstream.

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