With the news that milk and meat from clones cows has covertly entered the UK food supply comes the latest example of just how crucial it is to know the source of our products.

It’s not the fault of the consumer, nor the animal – but they’re the ones that suffer. The consumer gets a product they were unaware of and when they hear of it, it’s already too late. And for the animal, research shows cloned animals are born with a range of health defects.

It highlights just how important it is for clear information about where the things we buy come from. The food industry is already leading this trend with remarkable power and has done great things for the British food supply. Should we not, therefore, be looking just as carefully at where everything else we purchase and use is from, what it’s made of and how it’s made?

After all, just like we are seeing the some meat may conceal a darker past, so do many of the things we use every day – but it’s rarely reported except in various cases of child labour and the current (but incredibly important) concentration on palm oil.

This still leaves a mass of consumable not being looked at with such rigour. The pens you use, the chairs you’re sitting on. Yes, it might be FSC wood, but who put it together? How was it done? Without knowing this, we don’t know if we’re unwittingly supporting un-environmental or unethical practice.

Perhaps the way forward would be to start being proud of our British products, just like we are of our food and our ales. There’s an abundance of innovative engineers, designers, builders and more waiting to make a change for the better. If we use them, champion them, we can perhaps work towards a greener and better nation, whilst supporting our economy and home-grown businesses.

In addition, we can keep a careful eye on the full supply chain and know exactly how our products were made and that they were done the right way: helping us avoid incidents like the cloned beef from happening elsewhere.