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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 28, 2009 14:29:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 18:35:07 GMT
I am constantly annoyed by the use of the term 'farmers market' in the English language. I know that it harks back to the time when it was the actual farmers who came to town to sell their products.
But for about 100 years, the people selling things at the market are other urban people who have bought things for resale at the central market.
To find a real farmers market, you have to go to a market in a village in Europe, or at least a town with a population of less than 20,000.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 28, 2009 20:56:31 GMT
Really? In my dinky rural hometown, it's the actual farmers who're selling their produce. In the '80s I sold herbs at a farmers' market in Wilmington, North Carolina and was surrounded by people peddling their own produce. The market in the US I've visited most recently was in New Orleans, and the items there were grown by the vendors. I've also been to the farmers' market in Atlanta, Georgia, which is really big and to a large degree run by growers.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 21:00:00 GMT
I know that the "Farmer's Market" here (I know you said Europe) is made up of produce and other related goods(honey,jams,flowers,cheeses,breads)grown and made by the people who sell them save the occassional spouse or child.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 21:12:03 GMT
That is absolutely not the case in Europe. In the cities, the produce is sold exactly as it would be in supermarkets. It is a question of knowing your personal vendor and whether he gets his stuff from the best places.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 21:25:16 GMT
I happened to be kind of in on the ground floor of the current Farmer's Market here and went to many of the places,farms,nurseries etc. to help inspect them. I was very impressed with the process.
Now,some of the roadside stands that sell produce I know get their produce from the downtown French Market. Where they get it from I don't know.
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 29, 2009 12:05:15 GMT
ah, K... the farmer's market here is different. it's a mix of the old ways, Casimira's description and obviously it is a commercial venture for these people.
But they put it between 09:00am and 13:00 on a Thursday. Which means I, like many, cannot attend. silly!
I loved the market in Geneva!
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Post by gyro on Mar 29, 2009 19:24:52 GMT
Self-obsessed Euro-centric rubbish. (apart from the fact that England was still in Europe last time I looked) Granted, there are 'Farmers Markets' by name but not nature in the UK, but there are - certainly in the last 10 years anyway - some excellent ones that are provided straight from the farm to the stall.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 20:03:09 GMT
I think if you take a survey of the number of tiny independent farmers with the time and energy to take time off to go and sell their produce, compared to the large industrial farms, you will quickly discover that there is no way that the independent farmers could ever satisfy the demand at a street market. Feel free to dream your lovely dreams, however, if you wish to think that we are still living in pre industrial times.
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Post by gyro on Mar 29, 2009 20:17:02 GMT
Please, feel free to come to the UK to update your 'research' ...
In particular, come to the Farmers Market in North Walsham, Norfolk, or the one in Bideford devon, or the one near Skelmersdale in Yorkshire. I never said they were the majority, but they do exist. More than your sense of unblinkered reality, anyway .
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 20:29:29 GMT
"population of 11,998" for North Walsham. Bideford: "Population 14,599 ". "As of 2006, Skelmersdale had a population of 38,813, down from 41,000 in 2004." -- all from Wikipedia. Looks like Sklemersdale is the only one I need to verify, but not for long if the population keeps going down.
So, two of those markets correspond to my criteria of 'cities of less than 20,000.'
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Post by gyro on Mar 29, 2009 20:36:51 GMT
Wow, you've REALLY put some thought into this, eh ?
Good ole Google ...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 20:48:45 GMT
Yeah, it took about 55 seconds for all three.
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Post by gyro on Mar 29, 2009 20:54:10 GMT
Best you have a lie down, then. That's enough work for one day; you are French, after all ....
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