Anyone who attended last year's Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park will know how much exciting new art there is. Which makes it all the more inexcusable that so many restaurants spend a fortune on furnishings then stick tacky art on their walls. With a few honourable exceptions, there seems to be some unwritten rule that ensures good food goes hand in hand with dodgy paintings. Yet it hasn't always been so. It was not unusual for restaurants to allow budding artists to swap one of their works for a meal or three. Indeed, some enterprising places still do. OK, such a deal may have confused the accountants but it does give the diners something more interesting to look at than their polenta.

In this month's OFM we asked several of our most respected artists to discuss their sometimes complicated relationship with food and be photographed in their favourite restaurant. To celebrate our special Art & Food issue each of them has generously donated an original work for you to bid for. The proceeds go to the artists' chosen charities, so not only do you have the chance of picking up something by Tracey Emin, Maggi Hambling, Peter Blake, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk or Fiona Rae, you also benefit charities including the Terrence Higgins Trust and Amnesty International.

I am sure all of us were shocked by the tragedy that hit the Morecambe Bay cocklers recently. Appalled and saddened by the loss of life I also found myself stunned by the sheer quantity of shellfish involved - literally millions are dug from the sand each year. Now, I love a juicy little cockle and don't eat them nearly often enough, but most of those I come across are preserved in vinegary brine. So where do all the fresh ones go? We sent Rachel Cooke to explore the case of the disappearing shellfish.

I have often mused over what might be my last meal. I doubt I shall have any choice when the time comes, but nevertheless it is something I occasionally like to muse over. Here at OFM we decided to ask some of our favourite people and were amazed at the diversity of the answers. Then we had the idea of finding out what people really did fancy when faced with choosing their last supper. The only place to go was death row. Add to Heston Blumenthal testing supermarket food in The Observer's canteen, Lynn Barber tossing pancakes with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and photos from our fabulous awards party in a Georgian brothel and I think you will agree we have more than enough for even the hungriest appetite.

· Nigel Slater is The Observer's cookery writer

· Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's regular column returns next month