DURING THE winter, Mike Small's home in Fife was transformed into a root vegetable culinary laboratory.

He claims to have mastered every way to cook a potato, turnip and carrot, recommends his carrot and beetroot curry, and after a shaky start has finally worked out what to do with celeriac.

His raw materials arrive at his home in Burntisland every Tuesday, sent in net bags from a local farm. In fact, virtually everything in his larder, aside from the odd tube of curry paste, is local.

Small is one of the creators of the Fife Diet, a year-long project to live off produce from within the area as much as possible and help reduce the food miles and carbon footprint of the average meal.

Six months in and the diet has been declared a huge, well-nourished success. It began last November with 19 volunteers, but Small estimates there are now 200 to 300 people taking part.

The main ideas behind the Fife Diet are to explore sustainable ways of living, challenge the notion that people need to have produce flown from the other side of the world at huge cost to the environment, and to support local producers.

Small admitted there had been some tough moments - he lasted only a week without coffee, a crop not usually seen in Fife fields, and had to sweeten porridge with raspberries to make it more appealingly pink and sweet for his sons, aged one and three.

"We think it's about clarity, not purity," he said. "It's about getting the bulk of your food from Fife and that's what we're doing. There are exceptions such as salt, pepper, olive oil or vegetable oil because they're difficult to source locally but essential to enjoying your great local produce."

His wife, Karen, also reluctantly gave up being a vegetarian. Small said: "It challenges previous conceptions that vegetarian is the most eco-friendly diet. If you're eating a soya-based diet when 17% of the Brazilian rainforest is depleted because of soya plantation, that doesn't quite add up."

The hundreds of other dieters are spread out across Fife, keeping in touch and swapping recipes via Small's blog.

Sam Roger is one of them. She grew up on a farm, has worked in the Fair Trade movement and runs the Ethics Girl website from her home in Rosyth.

She started the Fife Diet in January, mainly to support the local farmers.

"It's definitely cheaper," she said. "All the meat is the same price as the supermarket or cheaper. And there's no comparison in taste. It's so much more delicious."

Ardross Farm, nestled in the East Neuk of Fife, sells all its produce through its well-stocked shop. Potatoes, parsnips, squashes, pumpkins, lettuce and herbs are picked fresh every morning. It is one of the growing number of local suppliers who have supported the Fife Diet over the last six months.

Nikki Pollock, manager of the farm shop, said business had taken a notable upturn since the project started.

"I was amazed by the response to it," she said. "I thought it was something people would think was a good idea but too much effort. But I've been impressed by the number of people who are coming in and actively doing it.

"It has benefited our business. People are making a concerted effort not to shop in the bigger shops and shop local. People ask a lot more questions. Instead of going to the supermarket to buy broccoli from Spain they have come here and made sure it's local."

Six months after starting, it appears the Fife Diet is blossoming. Small has been asked to advise on the Scottish Government's Choose the Right Ingredients consultation, and hopes to roll out the project's framework to other areas. His ultimate ambition is to build a national local food network.

But for now, he is looking forward to the summer and the ability to have some salads in his weekly vegetable delivery - asparagus, spinach, broccoli, leeks, basil, coriander, dill and chard are all in season at the moment, as well as potatoes.

Once the year is over, however, he might celebrate with a tipple from further afield. "Fruit wine from Perthshire is okay, but I'm looking forward to some decent wine," he said.