Farm Fresh Australian House & Garden magazine. June 2003

A big smile and a good old country yarn is what you'll find at the farmers' markets...

and the food doesn't come any fresher, writes Peter Salhani

Fruit and veg, kids and coffee, early morning chit chat - it's all at the growers' markets - or more precisely, the farmers' markets. This is an experience every food lover should have at least once, but be sure to get there early - by 11 am it's all over bar the shouting!

Every month or every other week, farmers and producers roll into town - like the circus - setting up their tents in showgrounds, paddocks and parks in cities and regional centres across Australia, selling fresh produce to the food-loving public and savvy restaurateurs.

As distinct from public markets - where all sorts of things, from craft and clothes are also sold (and not always by the person who's grown or made them), at a farmer's market, only the farmer, grower, maker or baker of the goods is the person selling them to you. They also tend to be food-only markets, "with some exceptions: plants, cut flowers, herbs and seeds - things that foster the growing of food," says advocate Jane Adams, who has spearheaded the growth of the farmers' market movement in Australia.

A FRESH START

For both farmers and consumers, these markets offer economic, social, and personal benefits. Shoppers get high quality, fresh food, usually chemical-free and often organic, as well as the opportunity to learn about the food they're eating: when it's in season, how it is grown and produced, and how to prepare it. There's also a strong sense of community among people at a marketplace and, in an increasingly impersonal and fast-paced world, "this reconnection with each other is something we instinctively crave," says Jane.

"Markets are very evocative, social places," says Jane, "more like coffee shops than supermarkets. People come together here to socialise, talk food and have fun."
Also, she says, "people are increasingly concerned about the source of their food, and at the farmer's markets you can see and taste the food before you buy it, talk to the people who grew it and ask whether spray has been used on the lettuce or if there are hormones in the chicken. It's a great way of reassuring yourself about what you're eating." There's also an education on offer. "Just by what's available from month to month, you're reminded which foods are in season at what time of year," says Jane - something she believes city people have lost touch with, as we're all used to having most things available year-round at the supermarket. "If you can buy it out of season - it's obviously not fresh."

COMMUNITY

For farmers, who are all too often isolated geographically, markets offer important community contact. Farmers come into town and talk to others who are often in the same boat, "which really brings them together," says Jane. And by talking with their customers, they can directly gauge people's response to what they produce - do their own market research, if you like. Many who participate are running small family enterprises and join the farmer's market circuit to diversify into sustainable crops or ones that interest them.

TASTE SENSATION

Farmers' markets are not just about cheap produce - they're about quality. A lot of what you can buy, is not available anywhere else, or has traditionally been reserved for restaurants. For instance, says Kathy Snowball, a cook and former food editor with Australian Gourmet Traveller and Australian Women's Weekly: "The only other place you might get those wonderful Darling Mills leaves or Mandalong lamb is on your plate at Aria (one of Sydney's fine harbourside dining rooms), or somewhere of that calibre".

Together with Sydney Pemberton, a caterer, cook, food writer and teacher, Kathy takes small groups on guided tours of the Pyrmont and North Sydney Growers' Markets. This is followed by a casual cooking class using the just-bought produce. "The whole idea is to have people talk with the farmers and learn about food - how fish is smoked, how to taste olive oil or how salmon caviar is milked," says Kathy. They'll buy enough to make two meat dishes, one vegetarian and a dessert, "whatever's in season and looks good." Classes are quite informal: "We bring it all back to the house and talk with the group about what we'll make, then everyone pairs off and cooks lunch," says Kathy.

RETURN OF THE MARKET

"There's nothing new about the idea of farmers coming together at a central place to sell what they've grown - markets go back as far as humankind," says Jane. Having studied the resurgence of farmer's markets in America, Jane has been a tireless consultant to Australian farmers' groups. In the late 1990s there were few, if any, dedicated farmer's markets in Australia. It's now up to 40 and counting across the country. "People are hungry for fresh food," says Jane, and if she has her way, every city and regional hub will have their own farmer's markets - sooner rather than later.

When the first monthly farmer's markets opened last year in Wauchope, northern New South Wales, Anthony Hoy of The Bulletin reported on the scene: "By 9am, more than 3500 real-food aficionados had poured through the gates... in search of food found all too rarely in the modern supermarket: double-yolker eggs, juicy tomatoes and other lines of farm-fresh produce, much of it harvested only hours earlier, with the morning dew still evident on leaves and skins."

"I can't imagine a better way of buying food than at an outdoor market" Jane says. "I still remember the first peach I ate at one - juice dripping down my arm - it was like eating liquid sunshine. Once you've rediscovered what fresh food tastes like, you don't want to go back."