Farm Shop shopping

Pink.

I think it's a personal choice really.

I try to buy mostly from local farm shops, but if I see something much cheaper in a supermarket, I'm happy to buy that too.

It's a fine line balancing quality foodstuffs and supporting local business with moneysaving. If there isn't much in it I prefer to buy locally.

Pink

Shortie

Hi Webitha

Much like Pink, I'd say it's up to you.

Personally, I'd stay with the farm shop as it's supporting your local farmers, not done all those fod miles if the produce is from that farm, and is likely to be a darned sight fresher too

You said there were only a few items cheaper, and if it's really not that big a difference, I'd stay with the farm shop.

But then I know I'd also get tempted by real bargains in Mr T's if I saw them too...

sheng719

I have discovered this lovely local farm shop near us which sell lovely cheese from somerset. I've decided last friday to try and but most of the vegetables there for our barbeque last saturday. We hav found out that most of the vegetables they actually sell are not from this country (spain, greece, portugal, etc.) It was really a shame and has put me off buying vegetables from them.

VickyA_2

I enjoy buying from farm shops, local butchers and our local farmers' market. It means that I can talk to the producers and get to understand where the industry is coming from, ask questions about provenance AND also get some personal tips about how best to prepare some cuts of meat.

Our local butcher is owned by 3 local farmers, so 90% of the meat comes from a 10 mile radius. This means that you get "in season" meat. (the other 10% is chickens from Suffolk and smoked salmon from Scotland) They make GORGEOUS pasties using their own meat and veggies from the grocer's shop two doors away.

At our farmers' market on Saturday, I was able to talk to the "egg bloke" about how the hens are kept, what they are fed on etc.

Obviously, all product is seasonal eg apples won't be fresh at the moment if you buy English apples. The company that DH works for produces and sells salad items (ie lettuces (various varieties) and celery) to the major supermarkets. At this time of year, they are producing in Spain, as opposed to England due to the climate and the fact that they can offer year-round to supply to the supermarkets who demand that they have lettuce out of season in December! It's a necessary "evil" to ensure that they maintain their share of supplying Mr T/Sainsburys etc.

I try to buy as seasonally as possible, but there are occasions when that baby sweetcorn flown in from Kenya fall into a stir fry because it's got a yellow sticker on it in the supermarket. I do however, avoid buying produce from New Zealand as that just racks up the food miles BEFORE you get it home from the supermarket.

Just my personal point of view that people may or may not agree with.

midlandsfairy

Just my personal opinion but for most fruit and veg I go with my local farm shop, the price isn't cheaper but I like being able to cut down on the packaging I end up having as it all goes loose in a cardboard box and it is (I think) of better quality. Plus I'd rather give my money to them than Mr T! :-)

Saying that though, if I see some veg in the supermarket that is reduced right down I'll pick that up (as Pink, Vicky and Shortie also said). Oh, and I do sometimes treat myself to a mango from Mr T... I havn't yet found any local ones lol!!!

charleybabes

my H is making a homemade fishpie tomorrow as we have the inlaws coming for lunch
for the veg we decided that we woudl go to the nearest farm shop which is in the next town to us for a drive out and to take our 18mnth old to see the fish which are in the garden centre next door aswell
and i couldnt get over how cheap it was !!!!!

we bought 2 big bags of chambre ( sp!?) carrots, spring onions, 2 dozen eggs
a huge garlic clove and some fresh ginger, plus a huge bag of fresh spinich this all came to £4..
it felt really good knowing that our veg was fresh, grown on the premises and we were saving money aswell
i noticed whilst i was there aswell that they selling bunches of flowers for £1 well cheaper than supermarket flowers !!
i had a look around at all the veg and it was so much cheaper than what is sold at the supermarket and all looked much more appetising. nicer colours and some still had mud on .. so made it feel much more fresher aswell

ive been converted . im only going to buy my veg from there from now on
next week im going to try my local butcher aswell for meat.. see what i can get from there!!!!!!!

thriftlady_2

I love farmshops too:) . I'm quite lucky where I live-there are 3. They are great value for veg and fruit. They also sell local dairy produce, meat and dry goods. The dry stuff -flours and oats etc tend to be overpriced though. Watch out though for all the expensive extras farmshops sell -posh crisps, chocolate, baked goods, preserves, fruit cordials etc

What is chambre btw ?

purpleivy

are they chantanay carrots? Little stumpy ones?

Where is the farm shop? I'm in cheshire. Our local shop is expensive, need to find another one!

tinkerbell84

charleybabes wrote: »

it felt really good knowing that our veg was fresh, grown on the premises and we were saving money aswell

are you sure of that? it might be, but it might not

my local farmshop sells oranges and bananas! if you look at the labels closely you'll see they aren't from here. :rolleyes:

don't assume just because it's a farm shop, that everything comes from there

thriftlady_2

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

are you sure of that? it might be, but it might not

Good point. Produce should be labelled and the staff should know where it's from. My farmshop sells fruit from around the world but also their own apples and pears clearly labelled with their origins. Veg is labelled too. Some is from local farms a couple of miles away, some is UK grown and some is from Spain/Israel/USA-all over. Seasonal stuff should be home grown though.