Farmers Markets in London

I’ve heard that British food isn’t all that great.  Well, after having visited England during a last trip with the wife, I can happily report that British food is pretty darn tasty.  Sorry Ireland, I can’t vouch for you though.

We were in London for four days.  We ate at a Michelin Star restaurant, several hole-in-the-wall establishments, and a bunch of little bits from other restaurants.  Not once did we have a bad meal.  Perhaps my favorite was a gourmet hotdog restaurant called “Bubbledogs” where I had a hotdog with BBQ brisket and coleslaw on top.  We even ventured to a famous market called “Borough Market” and it was a site to see.

We love going to farmers markets and I hope you do too.  It’s a great way to not only support local agriculture and meet farmers behind your food, but it’s also a great way to eat some delicious and fresh food.  In Borough Market, we saw cheesemakers, vegetable growers, butchers, sausage makers, fisherman, and the list goes on.

All around the market were signs displaying “Buy Local”, “Locally Grown”, etc.  It was the first time I have ever seen the buy local movement outside the United States.  It’s such a cool feeling to know that consumers in a totally different country are taking it upon themselves to buy locally grown food and support those local farmers.  Although some of those farms are outside of London, they were still all British owned and operated businesses.  The money those consumers spend on their food items will go directly to those farmers; not to processors, distributors, or retailers.  Those farmers will get a much better share of the dollar than they would by traditional means.

Moral of the story is to buy local and support local farmers.  I’m now going to do my best to find local farms markets and buy local produce as much as I can.  And I encourage you to do the same.  It’s a trend that’s catching on all over the world and once we should all get behind.

Oh, in Dublin we tried haggis.  Not great…but also not bad.  4/10.  The Guinness was much better.

-Trevor