The report "Farmers’ Markets – building bridges between farmers and London shoppers" finds a surging demand for Farmers’ Markets amongst Londoners, yet with fewer than 30 markets across the capital, many are denied access to the quality home grown produce.
“With the current crop of food horror-stories, it is little wonder that Londoners are crying out for guaranteed fresh, home-grown good quality food. We want to be confident about what goes on our plate. Farmers’ Markets give shoppers direct contact with farmers and provide a source for traceable, natural, ethically-farmed food, helping to alleviate fears of facing the next BSE or E-coli disaster,” declared Jenny.
The launch will take place at Beech Hill Farm in Barnet on Thursday 17 October. Jenny will meet the farmers Karen and Chris Savva, who are supplying organic produce to Farmers’ Markets across London. The report is based on Jenny’s fact-finding tour of Farmers’ Markets in London.
“Following a summer spent visiting London’s Farmers’ Markets, I feel even more passionate about their benefits. Shoppers will feel the same when they realise that in many cases supermarkets are charging up to four times as much as Farmers’ Markets for the very same item.
Farmers’ Markets are a shop window to the countryside, Fortunately with these markets, Londoners are not as removed from the countryside as we might think.
Many London Farmers’ Markets carry on in the face of great difficulty, and they need all the support they can get from local authorities, government, and consumers, particularly the active support of buying their products,” says Jenny.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
A Farmers’ Market is one in which farmers or producers from a defined local area are present in person to sell their own produce, direct to the public. All products sold should have been grown or produced by the stallholder.
National Association of Farmers’ Markets produce is be ‘locally grown or produced’ – within a 100 mile radius for a London market and a 30-miles of the venue for the rest of the country.
The National Farmers Union claims consumers pay 80% more for farm goods in the shops than they would if they bought from farms direct. (www.nfu.co.uk)
According to the NFU there are 400 farmers within the Greater London boundary and 15% of London’s area is farmland. (www.nfu.co.uk)