Farmers' Markets

I've mentioned the local Farmers' Market a couple of times.  We try to go every month, and if you have one near you I urge you to do the same!  We normally take £40 cash and spend all of it which sounds like a lot until you consider that generally buys meat to last us all month plus a couple of treats like nice cheese, locally grown fresh veg or pickles and chutneys.  We couldn't go this month which wasn't a problem because there's plenty of meat still in the freezer from last month's.

Even though we didn't have the intention of buying anything, we can never resist a foodie event so we went along to today's annual Farnham Food Festival.  I assume it's organised by the same people who run the farmers' market as a lot of the same stallholders were there, plus some extras, some of the local restaurants and a stage with cookery demonstrations.

The unseasonably hot weather certainly helped, but it was great to see so many people out and about enjoying the festival, and there was a real buzz about the place.  We could have had lunch just off the free samples the stallholders were giving out, but couldn't resist having something from the local Thai restaurant's stand too!

I couldn't resist buying a few bits and pieces - I like to support local small businesses and anyway it all looked so delicious.  So we came home with venison sausages, lamb sausages, lamb cutlets, red mullet, gurnard and smoked sardines - we can never just walk past Sussex Smokers of Wadhurst (who don't seem to have a website) - their food is excellent and the ladies who run the stall are lovely.  Mill Farm Organic generally get some of our custom for the superb quality beef and lamb, and Hunts Hill Farm of Normandy (again, no apparent website) always show a massive range of cuts of different meats at very sensible prices.

The fish came from Pimpernel Fisheries, which consists of a chap who sails his boat out of Salcombe and sells what he catches at markets around Surrey.  He's generally run out of almost everything by the time we get to him at the farmers' market, but we lucked out with the mullet and gurnard today.  He always has lovely big crabs, too.

I had to work this afternoon so passed up the samples from the local breweries, but if I'd had the day off I would have been into those too - beer doesn't travel well so local beer is always best, wherever you happen to live.

The stallholders are always so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their products, it's a real pleasure to buy food from someone who has had a hand in its creation and not just a faceless corporation.  Meeting them also gives you the confidence to know that the product is of a high quality, and that the animals have been well-treated.  It seems to be an environmentally responsible way to buy food, too: I live in a rural area so if there are farms just up the road, why on earth should I eat lamb from New Zealand or bacon from Denmark?

There are selfish benefits to building a relationship with a small supplier too.  When I mentioned to the fisherman how pleased I was to see gurnard, as I've never managed to get any before, he gave me a business card and told me to give him a call a couple of days before the next market so he could keep some aside for me.

There was just one bum note - it's a real shame Dominos Pizza was allowed a stand among all the small, local and often organic businesses.

If you have a local market, do support it - there are so many benefits to supporting small local suppliers.  You'll be getting quality produce at a sensible price, supporting your local community and doing a bit towards reducing food miles.  It's fun, too - I love going along not knowing what I'm going to end up with and I generally come home with an ingredient that I've never cooked before!