Farmer's Markets - the way forward for farmers?

Having lived in rural Devon for the last 7 years and building up a network of farmers to supply our business we have become very familiar with Farmer's Markets. While they act as a great way of the public being able to gain access easily to farmers direct - cutting out the middleman, they do realtively little to help the long term future of farmers in this country. I would argue that the likes of WholeFoods and other retailers whom support good farming ethics are more likely to do good in the long term by paying a fair price to farmers.

We came across Barnes Farmers market in South West London the other week. A fairly lively market with a good number of stalls including: a hog roast from Somerset, a fishmonger and a couple of London organic bakeries. It was actually a lot better than some we have found in smaller market towns in the west country. It does always strike me though - as a commercial person, that farmer's, being natural producers, should concentrate with exactly that - producing, rather than selling. Retailing in itself is an art form (as is producing) and the most successful retailers in the country are the very reason why these farmers markets have sprung up so rapidly (because the retailers are too powerful and in many instances run by people with no understanding of the food chain/industry). So - we have a situation whereby as if farmers have not got enough to do making sure they farm responsibly, they now have to take time out of their week to retail their products, essentially because very little exists in any retailing format to support their efforts.

We had thought that we could attend a farmers market as a way of 1. helping our suppliers (the small farms that make very little money out of their produce and find it vital to have a market for their produce when available) & 2. letting people make the connection between what we do at SCOFF and farmers in the UK. It turns out this is not achievable because the rules governing farmers markets in the UK are in danger of stifling the very people the markets were set up to serve. An article appearing in the OBSERVER interviewed Richard Counsell of Somerset Organics. I reproduce below part of the article (for the full article click here):

"The whole idea (of only being able to sell ones own produce ast farmers markets) is a nonsense that will put some farmers out of business,' argues Richard Counsell of Somerset Organics, a partnership of West Country farmers which sells regional produce (organic meat, cheeses, apple juice, poultry, salmon, game) through a mail-order outlet near Cheddar. 'We used to do a lot of farmers' markets,' he adds, 'but now we only do Barnes [an affluent riverside suburb in south-west London].'

The problem is mainly one of economics. 'Say you are a sheep farmer with a couple of hundred acres in the West Country,' Counsell explains. 'At a farmers' market, you are literally going to sell only two lambs if you're lucky - so the most you will get back is £200. You can't sell a range of meats, you can't sell specialist cheeses. By the rules of the farmers' market, you can only sell your own product - and in my opinion, single-product sales just don't work.'

In the past few months, Counsell insists, some excellent producers have lost faith in farmers' markets 'because they can't get them going; they don't have the variety in what they sell'. The solution, he believes, is to follow America's lead - learnt from bitter experience - and set up 'micro-producers' groups' representing four or five local farmers. 'You would have, for example, a North Somerset stall selling a range of local produce,' he says. 'On market day, one farmer sells for all the others - and you do that on a rotation basis. That way, you don't lose valuable time at the farm; you always have a presence at the market. Each knows about the others' produce: they can talk about the farms, the food, the methods of production. To me, that seems like the best way forward.'

Counsell is similarly unimpressed by the proposed geographical limits, which to him seem arbitrary. 'The 100-mile rule for London is especially ludicrous,' he says, 'because it doesn't strike me as being any different from 200 miles. In market towns, people are more clued-up about the local environment - but London is so far removed from that. Frankly, they wouldn't care if the stuff came from Azerbaijan.' Add to this the odd 'local farmer' who is actually a large-scale, metropolitan baker or a suburban housewife baking quiches in her Aga, and certification is a travesty. 'With all that going on,' says Counsell, 'why persecute people who have set up a mini-producers' group and are helping the rural economy? We've now got small farms in Somerset with new barns, better stock, better hedges, putting money back into the land. Just because we have a viable business model, we shouldn't be excluded from passing on benefits to farmers.'

I agree wholeheartedly with Richard. Let's not pretend we don't live in a market economy. It is not only innefficient to have farmers only being able to represent themselves but it drives certain farmers away from the market. Why? because the market is not supported by the local people - WHY? because there is not enough choice at the market - WHY? because of the following rules taken from the London Farmers market website:

What's a farmers' market? How do I qualify?

Only Farmers can sell their own fresh produce directly to the public. You may not purchase and resell another farmer's produce. You must grow or produce the ingredients in processed foods, such as cheese, apple juice, or sausages. You must also make the cheese, juice, or sausages yourself (with one or two exceptions). You or a family member or someone who works on your farm must run your market stall.

It seems absolute madness that the idea of farmers markets to enable farms to get the full price for their produce (and actually be able to sell it to the public) has a set of rules that disallows true 'retailing' What's more, the food miles that 5 producers clock up travelling to Barnes Farmers market from Somerset directly contradicts the idea of 'local produce and minimal food miles'.

Why Real Food Tastes Better - keeping pigs

Following on from my talk with our Scoff customer over the no excess salt in our food (see previous BLOG entry) it occurred to me that Sarah and I had discovered this for ourselves whilst living in Devon.

(Porky left and Fizzy with Tom at feeding time)

We were inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series. We had 3 small kids and Sarah and I decided one day that as we had some land on which to keep some pigs (and Hugh said it was easy) this would give me something to do and stop me getting bored!

We bought two weaners from a local rare breed producer http://www.smallicombe.com/ where we had attended a day's training and tuition in how to keep pigs- a British Lop the children called Fizzy Dizzy (pictured here with Tom at feeding time) and a Berkshire named Porky.

Retrospectively this became a defining time in our lives and really it was this first hand experience of 'real farming' - albeit on a small scale that has developed part of our SCOFF ethos.

Our two new family members were duly collected (with some help from our friend Alan - who was rather more experienced at handling the noisy additions than me

We reared our two pigs - Porky leaving first as she was the 'porker' (a pig bred for Pork rather than bacon) and Fizzy a little later on as he was to be for Bacon, Pancetta etc. We bought our Pig Sty over the internet at http://www.pig-arks.com/ and when it was delivered the guy said to us:

"Ever kept Pigs before?"
"No" we answered
"Best leave it a few weeks before eating them - you can get very attached ot pigs and it will probably stick in your throat if youb eat them too quickly"

Great we thought - and the kids have named them - this will be an interesting exercise!

The End Result

Well - the end result was astonishing. Amy and Tess even made sausages in our Devon Development kitchen from their own pigs (Amy refused to eat sausages up until she made her own from her own pig and now orders sausage and mash on every occasion possible - and compares it to her own!)

The quality of meat from an animal that is bred to mature slowly is amazing. You don't need to add anything to bring out the taste (or to mask the lack of taste as it so often the case with commercially bred meat). We ate Porky within a few days of her being slaughtered and the kids never battered an eyelid. We froze the meat and even 12 months on it tastes better than any you can find from commercial breeds.

Commercial manufacturers of Pork products ofetn have to add excessive amounts of salt because the meat they use - cheap, intensively reared pork is tasteless. It seems like a no brainer to us what we should choose.

No Added Salt or Sugar

I have just spent the week in our Devon Development kitchen working on the latest Special for our ‘blackboard’ – really pleased with the results even if I do say so! Organic salmon, poached to order with a warm cannellini bean salad. The best thing about this dish for us is that because of the technology we use for delivery of our hot food the salmon arrives in perfect condition to the customer. It is also incredibly healthy but tastes great.

I was in the Fulham shop on Friday night having trained the guys on how to prepare the dish. I met a customer early on ordering his 'Bangers and Mash'. Turns out we have now become a great alternative to his usual convenience of 'Simply M + S' - just what we set out to do! What he did mention to me was the thing he liked (other than the taste) of our meals was that unlike lots of other convenience food he did not wake up in the middle of the night all thirsty because of the excess salt in the food - in fact, I told him, there is very little salt used in our food and hence a discussion on why the food then tastes so good and how this is acheived - when other ready meal options fail.

The simple answer is great ingredients - cooked properly. Simple as that. It is amazing though what some chefs add to dishes. I have found some we have employed over the past few years to be very partial to adding sugar and over seasoning food. It is very important to us for people to recognise the quality of our food as well as it being a ‘convenience option’. We don’t add excess salt or any sugar (unless it is a pudding and the recipe calls for it). I am a self trained cook and so I have been lucky enough not to have anyone showing me poor cooking skills in catering college (see Oliver Peyton’s latest rant on catering colleges). So we do things the old fashioned way, with great ingredients grown the old fashioned way.

By the by we ordered from a competitor on Thursday and the hummus and tzatziki seemed loaded with sugar (to the point they did not actually taste at all like they should). The kids rejected them (usually our final test on any menu item), and even Tom, whom likes most things sweet left the hummus (he noshes SCOFF hummus) and said he liked it, left it. (Note: Tom is not 3 yet so his comments should always be taken lightly, though not his taste buds!)