Farmers market?

SueRob_2

I live just outside Reading & when the Farmers Market first started here, I went along. I found everythig to be extremly expensive & have not returned.I appreciate that the quality was good & the produce was organic. But my weekly food budget doesn't stretch to their prices.
Sue

nearlyrich

We don't bother with the Farmer's market near us either, the food is too expensive and no better quality than our usual suppliers. We buy top quality steak mince at £3 for 2lb or £1.80 if you just buy a lb and always get some money knocked off the final bill.

hollydays

I went to my local farmers market too-rather stupidly thinking there would be loads of veg there-mostly out of season i suppose.Was a bit put off by one meat stall where it was just laid out on the counter,no fridge.Saw a bakery stall and bought a fudge brownie-well taste more like school sponge pudding with icing on for a quid.Did buy some yummy cheese though.overall not what i expected,but will give it a second chance later in the year.

Omertron

If it's a real farmers market, it'll be good quality and as cheap as a supermarket, ours certainly is. If it's a "posh" farmers market where people set up stalls to sell over priced cheese, then you'll probably be over charged.

My tip would be to know how much you pay in the supermarket for things and compare to the quality and source of whatevers available at the market. If in doubt ask, most of the vendors will be happy to talk about where their goods come from and how they are grown/raised.

At our local farmers market we can pick up fresh mince for less than the supermarket even with their offers. Sausages we always get from Ricky the Butcher as they are the best and well worth the premium - 500g (1lb) of sausages cost £3.50-£5 but are so much tastier than even the best of Sainsburys, Tesco, et al.

In short, go with a budget in mind, stick to it, and see if the better taste is worth the extra.

apple_mint

We have a lovely farmers market. I mainly buy lamb and gammon, and of course some lovely 'special' sausages. Lamb mince is £2 for 500g and is absolutely delicious and makes fantastic bolognese and shepherds pies. We also buy a pack of 1/4 of a lamb and get chops etc and two lovely joints for about £20 (each joint doing 4 or 5 meals). From another butcher we buy gammons which we cook in the slow cooker and again I use in 4 or 5 meals. The sausage man .. well, the choice is wonderful ... pork & wensleydale, pork & mustard, pork & sage ... (and lots more) at around £2.50 a pack (it depends on the weight).

All this meat tastes wonderful and although slightly more than the supermarket (though I'm not sure about that as I don't buy my meat there) I think it is worth it. The recipes on this site help stretch a joint or a packet of sausages as well.

Not all farmers markets are the same, so it is case of checking them out. The stalls I buy my meat from have refridgerated units, boards and leaflets detailing where the meat is raised etc. with really friendly / chatty staff. They often have a queue at them.

moggins

The farmers market here is not so good, it's not even really a farmers market as there is a stall selling olives, another selling speciality breads, and one even selling asian pickles and ready made dishes. All the meat is from old breeds too and is really expensive. I don't really bother with it anymore.

halloweenqueen_2

I buy a whole lamb from my butcher for about £60, i think it was £1.37 a lb.

Philippa36

We go to the farmers market once a month here and the prices are slightly higher but the food is so much better quality and taste. The only products missing are the fruit and vegetables that a lovely white haired lady used to sell, but she was due to retire and has obviously sold her pitch. I don't pay anywhere near the inflated prices that the original OP paid though.
Its really frustrating when people see a so called 'Farmers Market' and think they can raise their prices to ridiculous levels expecting the locals to pay as its supposedly 'organic'.
We stick to a couple of the stalls that we know well. The two butchers we buy from are local family farms and same with the vegetables. There are people selling venison,ostrich, olives, bread and lots of cheese makers but we stick to what we know is local.
We do have an organic shop locally but the prices are prohibitively expensive, even for people on an above average income. I would prefer to grow my own than expand their empire...

halloweenqueen_2

We have a farm shop near us which does local cheeses, its a bit pricey but its good stuff.

MrsTinks

Once I run out of my stock of meat in the freezer I will be buying most of our meat from my local butchers. OH fishes and we don't eat fish so we have agreed a bartering system with our local butcher which works out very nicely Mind you his opening hours are not 100% friendly so I expect that the occasional chicken etc will still have to be from Tesco but I can live with that I just wish that the local parish etc would stop arguing and re-instate the local allotments so I can grow my own veg and maybe even have a couple of chickens on there for eggs and the occasional roast YUM!