Farmers Markets

recovering_spendaholic

I went to the farmers market yesterday with my friend. My Friend is in dire financial straits at the moment so said she would come to have a look and also to look in the general market for some food bargains. I didn't buy anything at the FM but got some wonderful fish in the general market, which wasn't cheap but which was just beautiful (it was undyed smoked haddock - £5.34 for about 700g). My friend on the other hand bought a fillet of beef for £36 (£26 odd per kilo:eek: ), a whole salmon for £18, a piece of silverside for £20, a dozen (not organic - just farm fresh) eggs for £2 (you can get free range at the local shop for £1.50 a dozen), a kipper for £4, 4 lamb chops for £11:eek: and a tiny piece of brie for £2.50. As we were walking back to the car she said that it would cover meals for the weekend (she has OH and 2 teenagers). I told her I thought she was mad to spend that particularly given that she is in deep financial trouble and that I could spend that much on food for a couple of weeks and she just said that that was impossible. I told her about MSE and OS and she was totally uninterested. Just shows......... how many other people are like that I wonder?

Queenie

:eek: Wow!!! No wonder she isn't coping well financially!

Well done to you for your wise advice to her - I hope the day doesn't come where she is at a point where her *only* alternative is to read these forums "You can lead a horse to water .... "

Enjoy your haddock, Jane. How are you planning on cooking it?

welshgirlmel

Queenie, what I meant was that if the product is past its best, and the grocer was keeping it on their shelves in the hope of still selling it, instead of binning it, giving it to someone or selling it off cheap, then obviously they will lose that money if it does not sell. Hope that makes sense.

Queenie

welshgirlmel wrote: »

Queenie, what I meant was that if the product is past its best, and the grocer was keeping it on their shelves in the hope of still selling it, instead of binning it, giving it to someone or selling it off cheap, then obviously they will lose that money if it does not sell. Hope that makes sense.

Aha!! Yes, now I see what you mean Thank you for clarifying that point :beer:

itsmylife_2

Queenie wrote: »

Those chiller cabinets aren't able to give me advice on how best to cook that particular meat either and are shockingly poor at flirting and banter, not to mention how else you find out how Mrs Jones is after her fall? :laugh: I've lost count of the times I've been given "... an extra handful, D'rlin, 'cos today's got a 'Y' in it" ... don't get that at the supermarket.

oh you know how much that made me smile I love going to our local market for the laugh that it is :laugh: I've been suffering from post natal depression and sometimes its the wee pick me up that I need - not the sort of thing that I get if I go into Asda! Plus some of the stall owners give DS (15 months) a piece of fruit and wave to him, he loves going to the market! Once they got to know us, most of them throw in wee extras too

1sttimer_2

I feel quite lucky really, we have an excellent indoor market where the stall holders are very friendly and a nearby local farm selling home produce which tastes lovely but can be a bit dearer.

If you're that way inclined we have all the main supermarkets here too.

We also have a local allotments who sell their surplus fruit and veg. They may charge a little bit more than Mr T or markets, but it has been picked that morning from the site, is usually organic and any money goes back into the allotment society. That bit is great so I don't mind paying a little over the odds.

We're spoilt for choice really.

Doom_and_Gloom

When I used to go to the local grocers I would buy enough veg and fruit for myself for a week, usully 9-10 days, for not much more than £6 never more than £7 and I'm vegan so buy quite alot of veg and fruit. They also do 33p bags of veg and/or fruit that's not been going for that long most of the time. If I don't have enough money near the end of the month for organic produce I find myself there cheaking the bags for stuff I can use for smoothies and soup.

My boyfriend uses the local butchers for his meat and can get enough for 1-2 weeks for not much more than £10 and never more than £15 and he eats A LOT of meat :rolleyes: . 8 sausages, 1lb of mince, 1lb of stake, 2 lamb and mint burgers, 2 other kind of burgers (can't remember at the moment), 6 eggs, 8 rashers of backon, 1lb cooked ham for his sandwiches at work and a block of cheese will never cost him more than £15 which I think is good and does him long enough.

Mrs_A_4

We got a leaflet for local(ish!) Farmer's Markets and are planning to go to one on Sunday. I'm a teacher so was hoping to stock up on the last day of the hols! However, after reading this thread, lots of people seem to think they're expensive - a bit of a pain cos I had visions of coming away laden with farm-fresh goodies totalling about, well, three shillings or something... as well as being rosy cheeked and all that.
Does anyone have any experience of Farmer's Markets (it's a once a month type jobby) or can give me advice on what to look out for and what to avoid?

Thanks!

Melissa177

I am a recent Lidl fruit & veg convert - I got fed up with things from the market going off very quickly, and went to Lidl instead... I bought a massive basket of fruit and veg for around a fiver the other night. Fabulous!

All my friends (I'm a 20-something yuppie) think I'm mad for shopping in Lidl - I don't care!

Lyndsay_21

i've just found a really nice butchers thats about a 40 min bus ride away in fact theres 2 butchers in that area but i walked past one and happened to look in and he had home-made faggots which i love at the time i had no spare cash on me so now i'm just waiting for DD to go back to school so i can hop on the bus and get some.
I feel quite sad about getting excitied about a new butcher lol