Buying from local markets!

Not many little towns have local markets left!

Where I live the local weekly market thrived, and folk from outlying villages would use it regularly, now there's only about 10 stalls left and very few locals travel into town for it (they shop in the large close by supermarkets.) There's one fruit'n'vegetable stall left, which I discovered cost more than Waitrose to buy from (probably doesn't help matters)

I would be very concerned about the provenance of such cheap meat. It could be stolen,nor the animals stolen and illegally slaughtered, or unfit for human consumption. And if you don’t have a freezer what are you going to do with it? Why buy such quantity? You are right feel bad about it.

Another local town has opened up a new shopping area on the outskirts of the town. Because the rent is cheap everyone is moving there and a man that had a stall on the Main Street on Saturdays has stopped going there as his trade has disappeared because all of the local go there. The side streets are full of fabulous little shops but on the Main Street they’re either empty or charity shops. I assume it’s because the rent is too high.

£20 for all that meat sounds rather suspicious to me. Why would you buy it if you can’t freeze it? 🤷🏻‍♀️

£20 for all that meat !!!!!!!!

I’m surprised the local environmental health office haven’t heard about this business.

I shop in the small market in our local country town in Oxfordshire. It has an excellent, no, superb fruit and veg stall. Fruit and veg getting close to its sell by date is piled up generously into plastic bowls and sold at £1.50 a bowl, it has only just gone up from a £1.00

Other stalls there are a local artisan baker, fish stall, cheese stall, egg stall. Very like a farmers market.

I would never buy cheap meat with no provenance. Meat I buy has to meet high welfare standards, Pasture for Life or Organic.

Patsy70

£20 for all that meat sounds rather suspicious to me. Why would you buy it if you can’t freeze it? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was only going to buy the steak but then he persuaded me to have the rest. We have a small freezer so we can freeze some of it. I’m going to buy from the fish stall next week.

You must realise that this trader is dodgy. You should report him to Trading Standards. I hope you can eat and give away whatever you can’t freeze. No animal should end up being thrown away. For heaven’s sake don’t buy from this person again, and warn your friends not to. And when you go to the fish stall only buy what you can eat within a day or two, no longer, don’t be talked into more..

Our weekly treat is a visit to a local market. It's in a trendy area of town and is full of upmarket stalls and street food stalls. However, the bakery stall is wonderful. The huge brown rolls and terrific fruit tarts are unbeatable. We browse the deli stalls and often buy cheeses or smoked fish etc. Prices seem reasonable compared to shops.
The atmosphere is so friendly that it's a pleasure to shop even in such a crowd (and I hate crowds!)

Before I moved to Bristol, Our little town of Sandwich still has a wonderful butcher. They not only farm their own cattle and sheep, but kill and butcher them on the premises. The meat is a bit pricey but the flavour is incomparable. Their pork is also locally sourced.
The fishmonger can be very snooty if one doesn’t recognise the fish/seafood, but also very fresh and local. We are very fortunate.

Maybe70, I should give this trader a wide berth if I were you ! £20 for that amount of meat sounds really dodgy; As GSM has stated, you have no idea how this meat was produced and yes, I would also check with Trading Standards and trust the old adage, if something sounds too good to be true it usually is !

MayBee70
You have mentioned several times lately that you’re still nervous Re covid and yet you don’t question why the meat on this stall is so cheap.

The stall has been at the market for as long as I’ve been going to it. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was how cheaply one can live if one shops around. Anyway, we’re going back next week for different things, I might ask them where they source the meat from.

None of it will be thrown away: I have a zero waste policy!

Do you think they’re likely to give you an honest answer MayBee? Will they tell you it fell off the back of a lorry? Something’s very wrong if so much meat can be sold for so little and still give the stall holder a profit.

I can’t believe those prices and would be very suspicious. I do only eat organic or free range which is top end but those prices are below bottom end. Not only would I be concerned about provenance but about how the meat is stored. I wouldn’t want to get food poisoning.

I don't think the trader is dodgy. We have several stalls in Birmingham and other towns around here which sell very cheap meat/veg etc. Some have been going for years. I think they would have been found out by now if they were dodgy.

Oh my goodness such judgment, and organic is wonderful for those who can afford it too. However how about instead of attacking why not ask if it was local producers at the market ?
It sounds good to me.

Where I live, down South, those types of markets can be more expensive, not less.
It would be great to have all those goods for that sort of price.

Many farmers lose livestock. It is assumed that the vast majority is slaughtered and sold possibly before the farms have had chance to check their stock. …..just a thought.

Regularly seen at a few places around here.

That’s the one Georgesgran. Are you oop north??

That was at Amble Sunday market. (fabulous Northumbrian coastal Harbour).
I’m not a meat eater, but the DDs have bought and frozen it, so it lasts them for months.