Ethos Public Relations Manchester

For the love of food markets

by Sarah

Recently I have been fortunate enough to indulge in a spot of ‘marketing’. Not marketing in the business sense - my marketing involved sampling the delights of various farmers’ markets across the country.

Farmers’ markets are a fantastic source of fresh, seasonal, locally produced food, and even better they are cropping up (get it?) in more places than ever.

At the Manchester Food and Drinks Festival’s food market in St Ann’s Square, my colleague Christina and I were overwhelmed by the variety of handmade local cheeses on offer – Mrs Kirkham’s, The Saddleworth Cheese Company and Bexton Cheese – to name but a few. We took great pleasure in chatting to the farmers who actually milked the cow that made the cheese we were sampling. After much deliberation we both decided on Chicken and Mango curry for lunch - mine was accompanied with a pint of Hydes locally brewed beer and Christina had a glass of locally produced wine. It was a great way to de-stress after a busy morning in the office.

At the weekend I tried the Covent Garden’s Piazza Food Market in London. In the hustle and bustle of tourists, I satisfied my hunger with a freshly made, hot, chorizo and halloumi ciabatta. However I was spoilt for choice, what with Mexican, Italian, English, Argentinean and French cuisines all crying out to be tasted - I was beginning to wish I had not eaten breakfast!

My ‘marketing’ expedition continued in my home town of Buxton at the ‘Great Peak District Fair,’ which celebrates the very best of  Peak District food and drink as well as hosting the annual beer and real ale festival. Here I enjoyed an afternoon in the beer tent sampling Jaipuir beer, brewed locally at Ashford in the Water and Peak Ale, brewed in Bakewell – but at 5.9% vol. one or two was plenty.

This week you can find me at the Arndale Centre in Manchester (18 – 22 Oct) where there is an Italian food market, with everything from Parma ham, salami, Grana, Parmigiano Reggiano and amaretti biscuits to coffee.  An Italian menu is definitely on the cards this weekend.

In this age of ready-made meals and mass produced food it’s easy to forget the tremendous pleasure and potential health benefits to be gained from rejoicing in quality, home grown, home produced, food. OK so you can get more for your pound at a supermarket, but you can’t trade the experience of chatting with the people who are so passionate about the food they produce for you.

So if you haven’t yet stopped by one of the many farmers markets operating around the country, then may I suggest you get thee to Manchester’s Christmas markets (18 Nov – 21 Dec). You’ll probably see one or two of the Ethos public relations team with a mug of Glühwein in one hand and a Bratwurst in the other!  Delicious.

Posted at 2:39pm on 21^st October 2010