Farmers Markets in Wales

Whatever you call your local pop up food based market if gives you the customer a chance to talk to the person growing, processing or making the products that are being sold. 

It is impossible to go into a supermarket and ask how ABC product was made. Add to this at many Farmers Markets you have the opportunity to try the produce before you buy. This only happens very very rarely in the supermarket and then only as a promotional tool.

We are far more conscious these days of what we are eating and much is said about ultra-processed foods (UPFs). What can be guaranteed is that any food or drink bought from a farmer, processor or maker at a Local Produce market is not ultra-processed, doesn’t contain commercial shelf life enhancers, doesn’t contain artificial colouring doesn’t contain a long list (or even a short list) of E numbers.

Indeed the Farm Retail Association chair Emma Mosey said a while back in The Grocer magazine stated that “farmers‘ markets may help wean Brits off ultra-processed foods”.

To help make things clear we refer to the officials at The Food Standards Agency where they say 

What is an ultra-processed food?

There is no single, universally agreed definition for ultra-processed foods. The NOVA classification (opens as PDF) (Opens in a new window) (which is the most commonly used) talks about food which contains “formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by a series of industrial techniques and processes.”

Some people have also defined ultra-processed foods as foods which contain ingredients that you might not find in your kitchen cupboard (for example, types of additives or emulsifiers or stabilisers).

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/ultra-processed-foods

Welsh Country has always been a supporter of Farmers Markets in Wales which could be called Local Produce markets or community markets, occasionally writing about them.

www.welshcountry.co.uk/welsh-farmers-markets-from-a-personal-point-of-view/

www.welshcountry.co.uk/cowbridge-farmers-market-in-the-spotlight/

Enjoy your next visit to a Farmers Market in Wales.