I wish there were more farmer’s markets in the U.K.  There is a special kind of joy,  you get shopping at a farmert’s market. It’s not just the things you can buy, even at a small market like Parson’s Green – the variety of fresh produce is, unmatched by any modern supermarket. It’s not just the quality of the things you can buy (most of the vegetables, meat and cheese at our market, is organic, or naturally grown).  Nor is it the knowing where, aswell as how, the food on your plate was grown; and in many cases, being able to talk to the actual farmer who grew them (or someone who works on the farm, or knows the product and production methods, of the things they are selling).

All of the reasons, i have touched on, are probably unmatched by any supermarket, but the real joy of shopping, is the actual act of shopping. I have witnessed, week after week, new and old customers, enter the market, go from one stall to another, maybe buying their weekly shopping – or just talking with a trader,  but they do so with a smile on their face, relaxed,  as  going to the shops/market, is a day out – something to be enjoyed. There are many children, at a market, they come with their mums and dads, and siblings, and have room to enjoy their surroundings.  But it is the grown ups who have most fun,  mum and dads,  young guys and girls,  they  chat to the traders, to other customers at the same stall.  They talk of the ‘seasonal produce’ they are buying,  favourite recipes, and life in general. Friendships are made in the queue at the vegetable stall, and carried over to the meat stall, the poultry, bread, and cheese stalls, and after all the shopping is done, small groups of people have a final conversation before leaving, some stay for hours. Shopping is a social event here, you never know who you will meet, or what new ‘in season’ produce you will find on the stalls. Every trip to the shops should be an event, in our lives, like it is at a farmer’s market.