ORGANIC farmers in the Westcountry are urging consumers to buy fresh produce instead of spending their money on so-called "lazy food".

Sales of fruit and vegetables already sliced, peeled or chopped are on the rise, with Waitrose reporting a 17 per cent rise in sales of prepared vegetables.

A survey by price comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk, found that consumers spend an average £63 a year on food which has been ready-grated, sliced or chopped – up 14 per cent over the past 12 months.

The news has led Devon-based organic vegbox company Riverford to attack the change as "another sign of a decline in the nation's culinary skills".

Guy Watson, founder of the company which has its headquarters at Wash Farm, Buckfastleigh, said: "It's a real shame that people miss out on the pleasure of cooking.

"It has a lot to do with confidence and education.

"We need to show children that food comes from the soil not from a packet.

"But we also need to demonstrate that fresh food doesn't have to be intimidating or time-consuming to prepare.

"Our customers are always telling us that cooking from scratch with a vegbox is a real joy and that their children take delight in getting hands-on in the kitchen.

"Every week we give customers eight recipes for free with their vegbox and we have just launched a Riverford Cooks campaign to give people confidence in the kitchen.

"Home-prepared food also tastes so much better.

"Customers tell us that flavour and freshness is the main reason they choose us and you really can't get that from something ready-chopped in a packet. Lazy food may be on the rise, but we'll be sticking to our onions and delivering families freshly-picked produce straight from the soil."

The study by mySupermarket.co.uk compared the price of a shopping basket including pre-boiled eggs, ready-grated cheese, pre-sliced fruit, ready-chopped vegetables and frozen ready meals. It found the average consumer spent £63.41 on such things in 2010, up from £55.48 a year ago.

MySupermarket spokesman Jonny Steel said: "Foods that were once considered an absurd convenience are now a normal part of our daily routines.

"Our research indicates that sales of such products are up 14 per cent in the past 12 months alone, and we anticipate this will continue to grow as shoppers become ever more time-pressed."

Riverford, which began at Wash Farm in 1987, now delivers to homes around the UK from its Devon base and regional "sister" farms in Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and Cheshire. Together, the farms deliver to around 47,000 households in the UK each week.

This year the company launched a Riverford Cooks campaign to inspire people to cook from scratch using a vegbox.