London loves encouraging consumers to buy local goods to support the community. Shopping locally has various benefits, like precise quality and reasonable prices.
Joe Preston is the professional baker of Living Alive Granola and a former Member of Parliament. He’ll be at the market every Friday selling his chewy granola.
“I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday morning. We’ve got live music right in front of us and the sun is out,” says Preston.
The live music and people chatting about their different products and samples makes it a comfortable environment to shop.
Preston’s partner Stephanie Brown says, “We want to reach people in London. We’re trying to get our product more known, but we also want to help the farmers we work with.”
Farmers’ markets are a great way to build clienteles. Local buyers can come and try some new products with the hope that they like it and come back next week to try something new.
It’s important that farmers’ market have a diverse merchandise present. London’s has everything from baked goods to fruits and vegetables, desserts, produce, jewellery, honey, jams, cosmetics to even kitchen applications, wooden products, and much more.
Some overlap is acceptable because the customers have to decide what is the most appealing to them.
Everyone has their own story behind their products and why they started. Ana is the Founder from Sweet Brigadeiros, her and her best friend/business partner will be at the farmers’ market every week. They started making Brigadeiros, which are Brazilian treats, to share their culture with their Canadian friends. They even use some of their mothers’ traditional recipes making the desserts even closer to their hearts.
They’re a great example of the culture that exists and forms within farmers’ markets’ commodities and people.
Asides from the visible culture, Londoners also get to meet the people behind the production processes. Meeting these hard working individuals allows for a total appreciation for the products we purchase and use. The creators love to discuss their products and hand out samples, so people learn more about they’re actually buying.
For example, Mark Cosens is from St. Thomas at Our Little Pig Farm and he often shares why his pig farm is so different.
“Our pigs are raised on our farm from start to finish. All our pigs are a heritage breed pig, which means they are a fattier breed pig, and they don’t do well in barns so they don’t use them in commercial operations. But, when we raise them we put them outside and they run around and get exercise. This is uncommon in the pig world, and as a result the fat gets into the muscle and creates the marbling we want in a high-quality piece of meat to make it tender,” says Cosens. “There’s no better pork than naturally raised and free ranged pork.”
The difference between commercial and local creators is they are truly passionate about their products because they know the effort and steps that goes into the process and comes out.
London’s Farmers’ Market is at Masonville Mall from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm every Friday all summer long.
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