Farm shop

[Boddie]

Last week when travelling between Stoke and Shrewsbury I passed many farm shops selling veg, and some with meat.

I have never been to such outlets before and was just wondering what your thoughts are regarding the produce.

I dare say that the quality is far better but are the prices considerably dearer?

Does the produce usually require a lot of preperation?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

[John]

We regularly buy from these types of places. The food, allthough not always cheaper, seems on the whole to be of a much better quality. Plus you seem to get a fresher taste with their produce.

The other plus point is that you are usually putting the money straight into the farmers pocket instead of a good percentage of it to a middle man when you buy from a Supermarket.

Give it a try, you might like it.

John

[Helen]

HI Boddie, I've moved your thread to here instead of the WAB Website, which is used for issues concerning the site, e.g. technical problems etc.

Cheers

[Jonny]

I love going into the farm shops. You are dealing with people who are genuinely pleased to see you. You get top products and a top service. Yes it will cost a bit more, but its worth it.................Jon

[Boddie]

Recently there was a demonstration near here, in a supermarket car park, whereby farmers were giving out free milk as the supermarkets were hammering them on prices. Apparently the margins for farmers were so low they may as well have just given the milk away.
I am into my caseroles now, after a few successful trials and think I'll give the farm shops a try. I have become increasingly annoyed recently by the poor sheld life at my local supermarket. Impossible to buy a weeks worth of food in as the shelf life is typically only a couple of days. I put this down to bad planning on their part as I know that much of the produce will last longer but the supermarkets seem reluctant to stock properly

[wildone]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Last week when travelling between Stoke and Shrewsbury I passed many farm shops selling veg, and some with meat.

I have never been to such outlets before and was just wondering what your thoughts are regarding the produce.

I dare say that the quality is far better but are the prices considerably dearer?

Does the produce usually require a lot of preperation?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

Boddie the potatoes and carrots might have soil on and they need scrubbing, but at least they have not been washed in chemicals. This means you have to scrub the Supermarket bought roots even better because you cannot see the chemical but you can see the soil on the Farm shop bought produce. Other than that no extra preparation is required. Also because it is fresher the local produce contains. far more healthy vitamins. Yes, it probably is little more expensive but if it is doing you more good then it is worth the extra.

I was thinking about why I gave up eating meat and realised I stopped enjoying meat when I no longer had access to the butcher who had the beasts killed on his premises. Made all the difference to the quality of the meat. He would have the livestock in on Monday and kept it until Thursday when it was slaughted. This meant that there was little or no stress for the animals and that gave a better quality to the meat. So now I don't eat meat.

[Boddie]

Yep

I am going rapidly off the supermarkets. Will try to use them just for the basics and try to shop more locally for fresh produce now I am on the road a bit more.

[Pat]

Apparently supermarkets often store their fruit and veg etc. in cold stores for up to a year As for farm shops, my sister has one near her down in Somerset, I went with her last year and was very impressed, all the produce was marked with which farm it had come from ( all local ) when the animals had been killed and when all the fruit and veg had been picked. At the end of the summer they have large baskets full of locally grown apples for anybody to help themselves to for free, apparently they can't sell them because the majority of people like to buy the highly polished foreign ones from the supermarkets. the farm shop is a little more expensive than the supermarket but there again you get what you pay for

[Helen]

Originally Posted by Pat

but there again you get what you pay for

Indeed you do, I agree 100% with you. Quality over quantity.

[nightshade]

I can recommend The River Cottage Cookbook,Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall,
this ia hughs natural products, no supermarkets book