Buying from local markets!

In our village, during lockdown, we started a littke market in th carpark. It was great outside but everyone went, masked up and we had fresh bread and buns baked by the pub landlady, fruit and veg and fish direct from Grimsby.

This market continues and we have many more stalls some selling mainly local produce: farmers with their own meat, sausages and bacon, cut flowers, plants, chocolate, ice-cream, olives, cheeses. It is very well used, expensive but such good quality. It is also a social meeting place with coffee on tap.

we have an open market with a wonderful cheese stall that has great value cheeses, but I wouldn't ever buy meat that is cheap..

One of our market stalls sells plastic bowls of fruit or veg for £1. Could be cherry tomatoes, plums, apricots etc. i like this idea.

We use the fruit and veg Man at our local market and it is far superior to any that we have bought in a supermarket. Yes it is slightly more expensive but excellent quality and keeps well. We are happy to support local businesses.

One of our favourite areas too. We often pop up there when we visit Co. Durham on our way to Alnwick and Barter Books. And arguably the best kippers in the world at Craster.

Back to markets - we don't have any round here anymore although there are a couple of nice fruit and veg stalls. Our local butcher seems to always be selling a large tray of minted lamb chops but that's about it.

We holidayed in the area a few years ago. It's fabulous.

Finally found Warkworth beach, too. Only realised there was a beach then when watching one of those lockdown walking programmes. Always thought of it as a pretty village by a river. Then took us two years to work out how to get to the car park!

Ssshhhh MB70. If word gets out how absolutely glorious up here is, we’ll be overrun. 😂

That’s where we were! I was looking at properties on right move there last night. I love the place. It’s got everything. Market, vets, chiropodist, the clothes shop is a branch of the one at Seahouses where I buy a lot of clothes from. Our dog loves the market, too, as we tell her she’ll see lots of other dogs. She gets excited when we pull into the car park. And everyone is so friendly, we chat with so many people. I buy toys for the grandchildren too. A friend told us about the market years ago but we’ve only just started going there. I love Newbiggin, too.

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.

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

Regularly seen at a few places around here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 !

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.

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!)

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..