Farmers' markets: fair fare for festive food?

Mandy from Birmingham (UK) emailed me with this question:

"I'm getting married in a few months and I want to ensure our wedding feast is as eco-friendly as possible. People tell me that one of the best places to source food from an environmental point of view is our local farmers' market. Are these markets really the best option?"

Here is an excerpt from HTGMIG (the book) which shares my views on farmers' markets in the UK...

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This is an interesting food source, and its definition varies from area to area and from country to country. As with so many other things, you need to adopt a "buyer beware" approach with organic food and particularly that which supposedly is produced locally. Check it out, ask questions, and don't be afraid to challenge what you see and what you're told.

When I am in Canada (where I come from originally) going to a farmer's market means pulling up just off the road in the spring, summer and early autumn months to some stalls where the farmer on whose land this is, and his friends and family, are selling the vegetables, fruit and other things they generate on the premises. You don't get fresher than that and the produce is truly delicious.

Here in the UK there are some enterprises like that but in my experience, so far at least, they tend not to be so energetic.

Farmers' markets over here often can be no more than an excuse for businesses to sell their wares on an outdoor platform under the guise of being organic and planet-friendly. My feelings towards those are mixed – especially as the last time I went to my local farmer's market the first stall I saw was selling delicatessen-type delicacies and the first display to catch my eye was labelled "Moroccan olives." Oh, yes - very local to mid-Bedfordshire, England.

With all due respects to those markets, however, there are also many local or at least regional traders who sell their produce – like delicious goat's cheese, goat sausages, organic range-free poultry and innumerable other things - which do deserve an organic, locally-produced label.

One thing that does help to regiment farmers' markets in the UK is their trade body, the National Association of Farmers' Markets, whose website you can view here: http://www.farmersmarkets.net.

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More soon .... Sz