• Bookstore

Launching today, 4-a-week is Oxfam's new guide to ethical food shopping and the Green Grannies are here to show you how it is done. Since November they have been helping Oxfam to spread the word about green living, and with appearances on national TV and hugely popular videos on Youtube, their message is certainly getting through.

The Green Grannies are now encouraging people to adopt Oxfam's 4-a-week guidelines when they do their supermarket shop. Each week they want shoppers to:

• Throw away less food
• Buy one less portion of meat or dairy
• Buy one more Fairtrade item
• Buy one more product from a developing country

Barbara Walmsley, on of Oxfam's Green Grannies is something of a cyberspace celebrity, with her Youtube video gracing the Youtube homepage and receiving over 200,000 visits to date. She will soon be staring in a new video in which she shows watchers how easy it is to follow the 4-a-week shopping guidelines, and cooks a delicious low-cost veggie cottage pie.

As Barbara Walmsley says:
"4-a-week is nothing new to me - I always plan my menu a week in advance so that I only buy what I need. I don't use much meat either as it saves me cash, and I always use up all my leftovers.

"I've been involved with charity work for years and know how changes in the climate are already having a terrible effect on the lives of some poor farmers. This has made me even keener to buy Fairtrade when I can, and when I buy things like lentils I do my best to buy from developing countries."

As our grandparents grew up having to tighten their belts, it is no surprise that following the Green Grannies' advice will also save you cash. The advice to cut down on waste and buy less meat and dairy makes a lot of sense in the current economic climate. The average family with children spends £610 per year on food thrown in the bin. And buying Fairtrade and from the developing world doesn't have to cost you any more, so your shopping can help others without it making a dent in your budget.

Barbara says: "I have always made the most of what I have - it just comes naturally to me. Every granny has her own tricks for saving money, and I'm really glad to have the chance to share them with younger people. Its also great to be involved with a campaign which is helping to take care of the world for my grandchildren's generation."

Of her new found fame Barbara says: "I find it amazing but very exciting that it's all creating such a stir."