Taste Farmers’ Markets Awards 2012 dinner and presentation

Taste Farmers’ Markets Awards 2012 dinner and presentation

Join us as we celebrate the real food producers of New Zealand.  Farmers' Market Producer Categories for 2012 as awarded by NZ’s leading Chefs Jonny Schwass, a Canterbury localvore, Master Chef 2011 Nadia Lim  and Acclaimed Author and Chef Julie Biuso.  Dinner and Awards including Farmers' Market of the Year 2012 at the Parnell Farmers' Market, Jubille Building, 545 Parnell Road, Auckland.  1st of July - 6 - pm - Dinner and Awards Tickets $60 pp, limited seats available

Click here to register online for Taste Awards Dinner

Click here to download a registration form for Taste Awards Dinner


Farmers Markets NZ Conference 2012

“ FEEDING OUR COMMUNITIES “

2ND & 3RD JULY 2012

FMNZ Conference 2012 Programme

Click here to register online for FMNZ Conference 2012

Click here to download a registration form for Conference 2012

Saturday 30 th June 2012

Breakfast & morning @ the Parnell Farmers’    Market - Enjoy a relaxing morning at the Parnell  Farmers’ Market, open from 8am -12noon Saturday.

Sunday 1st July 2012

Breakfast & morning @ the Grey Lynn Farmers’ Market - Enjoy a relaxing morning at the Grey Lynn Farmers’ Market, open from 9am -12.30am Sunday.

6 pm Taste Awards 2012 Dinner  and presentation

Monday 2nd July 2012

8:30am – Tea & Coffee at Jubilee Building, Parnell
9.00 am - Housekeeping, Overview of the        Conference
9:15am – Garden to Table Programme - Key note speaker - how do we change the way children  approach and think about food.
10:00am – Say what you mean and mean what you say -  your mission is simple if your thoughts are clear
10:30am – Morning tea
10.45 am Mind your Media –Key note Speaker - what tastes good today is good for us in the future
11:15am – WORKSHOPS – Finding the Local in Localvores, Managing the manager, 101 accounting in the cloud,  Governance – how not to do it

12:15pm – Lunch

1:00pm – Food Bill Update - how will it affect you and your Market, what you did not know
2.00 pm – The Lyttelton effect – can a community feed itself ?

3.00 pm – Afternoon tea

3.15pm  -- WORKSHOPS – Finding the Locals in      Localvores, Managing the manager, 101 accounting in the cloud, Governance – how not to do it
4.15 pm –  Masterchef  - the best things about local food is the ……………..
4:45 pm – Farmers’ Markets Annual Gathering of Marketers (AGM)
5.30 pm – Close of day one and wine tasting

Tuesday  3 rd July 2012

8:00am – Tea & Coffee at Jubilee Building, Parnell
8.15am – FMNZ Business Session –whose business Is it
9:00am – Reaching the full potential of the web -Mike Purchas, Marketground Website
10.00am – Social Media – Friends or foe – what you should and should not be doing - How to interact and gain the full spending potential of your Localvores

10:30am – Morning tea

10:45am --Authenticity is key to tomorrows Farmers’ Markets – Key Note Speaker - what is working now but will not work in the future
11.30am – Q&A from the floor

12:15 – Lunch

1.30 pm – FMNZ – Where to from here?
2.15 pm – Transitioning your market for the future -  what is the next wave coming ashore

3:15 pm – Stall holder/committee/manager                          relationships – why does it work so well...or not
4.00pm - Key note Summary

4.15pm -  Q&A from the floor

Click here to register for FMNZ Conference 2012

Out Standing in their Fields Chef Auctions

Out Standing in their Fields

Farmers' Markets New Zealand is pleased to present our four outstanding regional chefs for - the perfect Christmas Present for 2011

Trade me Auction - Jonny Schwass - Click here- Lunch for four people in Jonny's Christchurch Garden - Awarded Cuisine Restaurant Personality of The Year

Trademe Auction - Marc Soper - Click here
Luncheon at Pirinoa Station in the Wairarapa for 6 people, serving a combination of dishes including 2011 Wellington chef of the capital award winning dishes and utilizing some of the finest regional products available

Trademe Auction - Jan Bilton - Click here
Cloudy Bay Winery will be your venue for 8 guests to sample the very best of Marlborough with Jan Bilton for a cooking demonstration and luncheon to be matched with Cloudy Bay Wines

Trademe Auction - Julie Biuso - Click here
Cooking Class for 6 in Julie Biuso’s home featuring fresh produce from the market, organic meats, and eggs from Julie’s own chickens

Check out the Out Standing in their Fields Blog for detailed updates, videos and recipes from the road!

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO SINGAPORE BY VOTING FOR

YOUR FAVORITE FARMERS' MARKET

Vote for your Farmers' Market now CLICK HERE

Taste of Good Books - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

Taste of Good Books - Chris Fortune NZ Chef: "To celebrate Marlborough Wine Festival, Bookworld Blenheim is hosting an evening of Marlborough food and wine tasting on February 10. Wine critic Belinda Jackson will discuss wine and food matching, and Chris Fortune will talk about his enthusiasm for local food and for recipes that demonstrate the unique taste and flavour of Marlborough food.
Tastings of his recipes will be available, and copies of his cookbooks and of cookbooks by other Marlborough authors will be on sale.

Visitors will be able to taste Auntsfield wines and place an order at 20 per cent discount for their favourites.

The event has been co-organised by store assistant Janet Steggle.

'We are trying to tie in events with what's going on in the community,' she said.

'Obviously the focus here is on the local aspect of the Marlborough Wine Festival and the Marlborough Farmers' Market.'

The event opens at 5.30pm, with a talk starting at 6pm.

Those wanting to go should call 5784909 by Tuesday, February 8 to reserve a place.

Entry is by gold coin donation to Marlborough Community Hospice"

Local Food, wine and cookbooks

Marlborough Farmers' Market: "Local food, wine and cookbooks"

To celebrate Marlborough Wine Festival, Bookworld Blenheim is hosting an evening of local food and wine tasting. Wine critic Belinda Jackson will discuss wine and food matching. Chris Fortune will talk about his enthusiasm for local food and for recipes that demonstrate the unique taste and flavour of Marlborough food; tastings of his recipes will be available. Copies of Chris’ cookbooks, and cookbooks by other local authors, will be on sale.

Taste Auntsfield wines and place an order (at 20% discount!) for your favourites. Taste and buy local food at Bookworld’s mini-market before you visit Marlborough Farmers’ Market on Sunday 13th February at the A&P grounds.

Auntsfield wine
Marlborough cookery and wine books.
Sherrington Grange cheese
“A Taste of Yesteryear” quality jams, chutneys & preserves
Canapés by Chris Fortune

Event opens at 5.30 pm
Talk starts at 6pm
Please ring us by Tuesday 8th February to reserve a place

Bookworld Blenheim
67 Market Street
Blenheim. Tel 03 578 4909
blenheimbookworld@clear.net.nz

Entry by gold coin donation to Marlborough Community Hospice

Farmers' Market of the Year

Farmers' Market of the Year

The Best Farmers' Market of the year as voted by the consumers of NZ

The Farmers' Market of the Year award is just one of the awards honoring farmers' markets around NZ as we shine the spotlight on the real food producers from the land and sea

“Shining the spotlight onto individual grassroots food producers who use Farmers’ Markets as a venue to sell directly to consumers”

Voting opens in March 2011, pre-register now and be into win a RETURN TRIP TO SINGAPORE WITH FARMERS' MARKETS NZ AND SINGAPORE AIRLINES CLICK HERE
To pre-register your interest in the Taste Famers' Markets NZ Awards 2011

My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One

next thing you know there will be banana phones

Meet the queen of beets | Stuff.co.nz

Meet the queen of beets | Stuff.co.nz

Chioggia beetroot has been heaven-sent at the Marlborough Farmers' Market. Those who have only ever eaten tinned beetroot are missing out on a real taste of summer.

The chioggia beetroot is the queen of all beets and can be found on the stall of Sharyn and Neville White, who grow and sell heirloom vegetables and fruits.

An Italian variety that is best eaten raw (the beetroot does fade to light pink when cooked though), it is proving to be a popular addition to the dinner table during the summer months.

Sliced thinly or grated it is a very sweet tasting variety that does not bleed or stain your hands like other beets (10 points already). The young beetroot leaves can be used in salads or cooked like spinach/chard, adding a nice texture to your summer creations.

Chioggia is a sweet, round beet with a smooth, light red skin. The inside has concentric rings of red and white flesh with fluctuations in temperature enhancing these zones of colour.

This little-known beet comes from the coastal region of the Adriatic near Chioggia in Italy, hence its name.

Beetroot is a very highly regarded vegetable throughout the world for its health properties, and can be found in a multitude of colours from red or purple to yellow, with different countries producing different varieties, sizes and colours.

When consumed as a juice, beetroot offers many benefits and has plenty of nutrients including vitamin C, proteins, antioxidants, amino acids, sodium, potassium, silica, phosphorus and iron.

The deep red colour of beetroot is because of the antioxidant betacyanin. This antioxidant is essential for blood formation and a major benefit of beetroot is that it reduces anaemia (when the number of healthy red blood cells decreases).

Consumption of beetroot on a regular basis will help give you a healthy heart as it is loaded with plenty of vitamin C and other goodies.

Ask Sharyn and Neville what their favourite way of using the beet is.

BEETROOT AND PUMPKIN SUMMER SALAD

200g beetroot, scrubbed and grated raw

300g pumpkin, peeled and grated raw

1 large apple or pear, sliced thinly

100g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Handful of freshly picked parsley and/or mint, chopped

Juice and zest of one lemon

Drizzle of Marlborough olive oil

Sprinkle of Marlborough sea salt

Mix all ingredients well

Chill for 30 minutes before serving with chicken, seafood or lamb.

So what is a localvore then ?

Sounds like some sort of posh y name for somebody who has too much time on their hands.

Well you can be a herbivore or an omnivore, so why not somebody who pays attention to where their food comes from and commits to eating local food as much as possible? This is not some nutcase religion, it is just about eating local. It is not an all-or-nothing venture, it is all about helping the environment, protecting your family's health and supporting small farmers and food producers in your region.

The first bite to being a localvore is to determine what local means to yourself and your family: it could be food from a 100-kilometre radius, if could be from the whole of the South Island or even the whole of New Zealand. It is an individual decision that you need to be comfortable with.

The key is that by creating a boundary, no matter how large or small, you are becoming conscious of the origin of your food. You can even go one step further and draw a circle around your home or region and this will help you with your food choices.

We are all born localvores, it is just that sometimes we forget just what is in our backyard and what is in season.

We may not be able to tackle the big issues of the world, but we are able to help build sustainable and connected communities by supporting each other.

Five ways to become a localvore in New Zealand

Visit a farmers' market. There are now more than 50 located from Invercargill to the Bay of Islands. Some are big, some are small, but the key is that they represent their regional seasons and producers. Farmers' markets keep small farms in business. Rather than going through a middle man, the farmer or producer will take home nearly all of the money you spend on regional produce – there are no on-sellers, resellers or people that just buy at the cheapest price and try to move it as fast as they can, regardless of the quality or where it has come from.

Ask your supermarket manager where your meat, produce and dairy is coming from. Remember that supermarket managers are influenced by what you say and do. Let the managers know what's important to you.

Preserve a local food of the season. By freezing, bottling and preserving you get to eat and enjoy flavours all year.

Have a look for restaurants in your area that support local farmers and producers. Ask the restaurants about ingredients or ask your favourite farmers what restaurant accounts they have. Frequent businesses that support farmers in your region.

Ask about origins. What you may have taken for granted as New Zealand-produced may come as a surprise.

HONEY-SPICED APRICOTS

Serve these with dollops of yoghurt for breakfast or dinner, or add a crumble topping and bake in the oven for a quick dessert. If all else fails, just eat them straight from the jar.

2kg whole Marlborough apricots

cinnamon sticks and cloves for each jar

4 cups white wine vinegar

500g Marlborough honey

With a fork, prick the apricots all over and place them into cold sterilised jars. Place two cloves and one cinnamon stick in each jar. Bring the vinegar and honey to the boil and simmer for five minutes until it just starts to thicken, then pour over the apricots. Leave to cool before sealing the jars. For best flavour, leave for one month and use within 12 months.

Marlborough Farmers' Market 2011

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011: "Objectives of the Taste Farmers' Markets Award

The FM movement is about building and strengthening local communities, supports local businesses. The brand is environmentally sustainable and projects fresh, seasonal, quality. Customers are interested in their health, knowing where their food comes from and are well read and educated people. They’re also looking for social interaction and learning more about food

Objectives of the Taste Farmers’ Market New Zealand Awards 2011

• To celebrate Farmers’ Markets and their regional food producers

• To support regional food producers and networks through celebration of achievements

• To stimulate additional business for Farmers’ Markets and food producers of NZ"

How to make a man cry

I  have found the perfect reason to cry. If you are going to cry, it had better be for a good reason, and one good reason is the new-season white pearl onions from the Marlborough Farmers' Market.

If it is from the farmers' market, that must mean it has been grown in our region (good to keep the money and jobs local), it must be sold by the producer (tick that box – Steve is the man who made me cry), and it must be edible (that's my favourite part).

For a sweet little onion, the white pearl packs a punch, reducing a grown man like me to tears in a matter of minutes as I stood at the bench peeling them in preparation for the potato salad.

The white onion is popular raw or sauteed in salads, as it has a higher moisture content than normal onions and is somewhat sweeter. It is also just as good roasted in its skin (ahh, no more crying).

The onion has been traced back as far as the Bronze Age and was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, and eaten by the Israelites during their bondage in Egypt. Onions were rubbed over the muscles of Roman gladiators, used to pay rent in the Middle Ages instead of money, and were highly praised for their culinary contributions.

No good kitchen today would be without onions in the pantry, so how do we enjoy their oniony goodness with reducing ourselves to tears?

Here is the easy of why we cry: when you cut into an onion, its ruptured cells release all sorts of goodies like allinase enzymes and amino acid sulfoxides. The former breaks the latter down into sulfenic acids.The sulfenic acids, unstable bunch that they are, spontaneously rearrange into thiosulfinates, which produce a pungent odour and get the blame for our tears. But there is more. The acids are also converted by the LF-synthase enzyme into a gas called syn-propanethial-S-oxide, also known as the Lachrymatory (crying) Factor. Syn-propanethial-S-oxide moves through the air and reaches our eyes. The first part of the eye it meets, the cornea, is populated by autonomic motor fibres that lead to the lachrymal glands. When syn-propanethial-S-oxide is detected, all the fibres in the cornea start firing and tell the lachrymal glands to wash the irritant away.

Our eyes automatically start blinking and producing tears, which flush the irritant away. Of course, our reaction to burning eyes is often to rub them, which only makes things worse, since our hands also have syn-propanethial-S-oxide on them. It only takes about 15 seconds to start crying after the first cut. That's all the time needed for the syn-propanethial-S-oxide formation to peak.

WARM POTATO AND ONION SALADAnd you thought onions were just another simple vegetable! So bear up and just slice into them, and remember that Steve, who grew the onions, has to pick and harvest tonnes of them at a time. A little bit of Lachrymatory Factor never hurt anybody.

600g potatoes, unpeeled

4 bacon rashers (Premium Game do great wild pork bacon)

5 Tblsp Marlborough olive oil

1-2 medium-sized sweet onions, sliced into rings

1-2 garlic cloves, minced (Marlborough, of course)

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 Tblsp wholegrain mustard

Marlborough flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chopped fresh parsley or other soft herbs, chervil, chives etc

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water just until tender (about 20 minutes); do not overcook.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the bacon, onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is golden and caramelised.

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard and oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the onion and bacon and chopped herbs to the warm potatoes. Pour over the dressing and toss the potatoes to coat.

A great night out for a great cause!

This Wednesday at 8:30pm NZ will see the premiere of the movie Food Inc.

It is probably the most important food movie of the last few years and is creating huge discussion overseas.

Food Inc is a movie about the food we eat. It challenges us to think about who grows it and what modern
developments in food production mean to our health and our environment.

You can see for yourself what all the talk is about by attending the open night screenings throughout
the country.

Farmers Market New Zealand is hosting this premiere in celebration of the new growing season and $5 from
every ticket sold will go directly to your local Farmers Market.

Greystone Wines from the Waipara Valley in North Canterbury will be providing a free glass of wine at
each of the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch screenings.

For more information and to purchase your ticket for only $20 go to www.fmnzfoodinc.org.nz.

Show support for your local food producers and have a great night out at the same time.

Proudly supported by:

This email was sent to membersfarmersmarkets.marlboroughlocalvore@blogger.com on behalf of your local Farmers
Market. You can instantly unsubscribe from these emails
by clicking here.

Cabbage - why we love to hate it

The enduring memories of our childhoods often  come back to haunt us, that of cabbage being boiled for hours and the kitchen smelling of sulphur and a grey soggy mess appearing on the plate.  We would be served this unpleasant texture one night, stir fried the next night  and then even in the school lunch box the next day if it was not consumed (and mums and dads wonder why it is not consumed!).  We were told as children it would  keep our hair shiny (and?) and if we did not eat all of our vege we would not get any pud (we did not have pudding very often then)

It is a common fact known to the Greeks,  that grape vines, source of wine, do not flourish when grown near cabbage. The Greeks converted this agricultural knowledge to myth, the myth told of the god of wine, Dionysus, who wandered to Thrace accompanied by his loyal followers . Threatened by Dionysus arrival, Lycurgus captured both Dionysus and all the Bacchae.  To revenge this action, Dionysus had Lycurgus driven mad.  Not in his right mine, Lycurgus mistook his son for a vine and cut his son to pieces. Learning what he had done, Lycurgus wept, and from the tears that fell to the ground sprang cabbage.

It is interesting that the Egyptian Pharaoh used to consume immense quantities of cabbage before setting out for a night of merriment and drinking. They believed that consuming the cabbage gives them freedom to drink more alcoholic beverages without fear of its adverse side effects. This ideology still stands today, with people still practicing the use of cabbage cooked with a bit of vinegar as a cure for hangovers. 

This may explain why Alister sells so many cabbages at the market, it could explain why my hair is not shiny and it could be the reason why there are not many cabbage growers in the Marlborough region.   It could just explain that while you cant force little kids to eat their cabbage the  first night the fear of getting it as left over three days in a row is far greater than any smack as part of good parental correction

BRAISED RED CABBAGE                                                                

                                               

200                         G             ONIONS (THINLY SLICED)                                                                             

1                              TBSP      CRUSHED GARLIC                                                                            

800                         G             RED CABBAGE                                                                  

200                         G             BROWN SUGAR                                                                               

200                         MLS       WHITE WINE VINEGAR                                                                 

200                         MLS       RED WINE                                                                           

1                              TBSP      SALT                                                                     

1                              TSP         BLACK PEPPER                                            

                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                               

METHOD:                                                                                                                           

THINLY SLICE RED CABBAGE REMOVING ANY THICK STALKS - PUT ALL INGREDIENTS INTO STAINLESS STEEL POT AND BRING TO THE BOIL - REDUCE TO A SIMMER FOR 45 MINUTES UNTIL THE LIQUID HAS REDUCED                

Eggs Anybody?

You can tell a lot about a person by the type of eggs that are sitting in their fridge.

Are they free range? SPCA approved? Organic or barn raised, battery/cage? Or, these days, even vegetarian (funny, I had always though that chickens ate a diet of grains and cereals but when you think about it, free-range chooks eat worms, insects and other small creatures in their habitat).

Mass-farmed chickens will also be fed certain amounts of fishmeal, bone meal or animal byproducts (don't ask too many questions), so it all depends on what side of the chook yard you sit.

New Zealand exports more than 2 million free range eggs a year and has just developed a technique to differentiate free range eggs from cage eggs by using isotope analysis, ie the difference in the carbon and nitrogen found in the hens' diet which makes up the isotope fingerprint of the egg let's keep it simple.

Now this is really interesting stuff because we will soon be able to buy a gadget that sits on our kitchen bench, which we can use to test our eggs, green for free range eggs and blue for battery or cage eggs.

This will be extremely useful and will sit beside the other great kitchen inventions of the 21st century, including the pizza scissors (for cutting the perfect pizza slice), the frozen ice tray smiles (yes, they do look like granddad's dentures in your glass) and the portable toaster (that fits in your handbag).

Yes, I do look forward to the day that my kitchen bench has in place an egg isotope analysis machine. Until then I will just have to keep buying my eggs from my trusted local egg man whom I look in the eye each week when handing over my cash, whom I know produces the best eggs a chicken can lay, whose reputation relies on good old person-to-person contact that can only be done by buying direct from a trusted food producer.

Try this, the perfect skiing breakfast, for when a hard day on the slopes requires a protein-packed start to the day:

6 eggs, well beaten

2 cups milk

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Parsley

Tarragon

6 slices cubed wheat bread

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

Chopped meat or veges (optional)

Spray an ovenproof pan well with oil. Lay cubed bread in the pan and any meat or veges you like. Add egg mixture, then sprinkle cheese over egg. Cover casserole and place overnight in the fridge. Bake covered at 350 degrees Celsius for 45min, then 10min uncovered.

Going Nuts in Marlborough

When you start scratching the surface of what is in your back yard you come across some hidden talents, and that was the case last week at our monthly slow food event.

Our group of intrepid Marlborough Slow Food foodies were privileged to visit Uncle Joe's hazelnut and walnut factory (I won't even mention that they won Oil of the Show Canterbury two years in a row or a top 10 Artisan Cuisine Award) and Annies Marlborough, followed by a hot glass of mulled wine at the Grovetown Country Hotel.

While I knew that squirrels hoarded nuts over the winter, I had no idea that Malcolm and Jenny's Uncle Joe's orchard would produce such a multitude of nuts, and that their gathering skills would see them become the caretakers for many tonnes of nuts in their Grovetown premises, for eating and cooking as well as for processing into walnut and hazelnut oils and pastes.

The fact that Uncle Joe himself is the legend that sat around the fire cracking nuts with a hand cracker conjures up product integrity.

Leaving the warmth of the nuttery, we travelled in convoy to Annies, where Graeme Giles, enthusiastic as ever, talked to our group about the highs and lows of his business as well demystifying the human digestive system.

After 20 years of Annies products and establishing the standard for healthy fruit bars around the world, there is not much that they have not encountered, and it makes you wonder, where to next?

Well, if you know Graham, he is already looking at the next mountain to climb (which is really no different to selling into international supermarket chains do it one step at a time).

It was time for our group to move on to our last location, the Grovetown Country Hotel. Here we were met by the publican and a hot brew of mulled wine that ended an informative and interesting tour of all things foodie in Grovetown. It never ceases to amaze me what is in Marlborough's backyard.

I am now in Palmerston North. Here is another community in New Zealand looking for information on how to establish a successful farmers' market and food network in its backyard. I wonder what its people will uncover when they start scratching the surface in their region.

Recipes from Uncle Joe's:

MERINGUE FRUIT CAKE

5 large eggs, separated

Cup caster sugar

250gm Uncle Joe's sliced hazelnuts

125g best-quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

250g dried apricots, sliced

125g fresh dates, stoned, chopped

Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Line a 24cm-diameter cake tin with baking paper.at the egg whites until they just hold soft peaks and no more. Beat in the sugar a little at a time until all is incorporated Fold in the hazelnuts, chocolate and fruit. Pour into tin, smooth the top and bake 1 to 2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven, cool and serve dusted with icing sugar.  Serves 8-10.

HAZELNUT TORTE

Delicious and super easy

Base:

175g ground or chopped Uncle Joe's hazelnuts

100gm sugar

2 Tbsp cocoa

75g melted butter

1 egg

Pinch baking powder

Mix ingredients together and bake 30 minutes at 150C. Just top with blueberries or any other berries (fresh cherries if you are lucky!). Cover with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

-

FMNZ Update and Chairpersons report 2009

To all Farmers Markets and Food Producers of NZ

FMNZ is pleased  to announce the success of our Buy local Campaign which has seen the majority of Farmers markets in NZ commit to Authenticity  - " An Authentic Farmers' Market is one which consists of at least 80% certified local stallholders".      This includes Feilding Farmers' Market, Farmers' Market Taranaki, Southern Farmers' market, Orewa Beach Farmers' Market, Hamilton Farmers' Market, Cambridge Farmers' Market, Marlborough Farmers' Market , Wairarapa Farmers' Market, Christchurch Farmers' Market, Oxford Farmers' Market, Whanganui Farmers' Market, Parnell Farmers' Market, Nelson Farmers' Market, Waipara Valley Farmers' Market, Little River Farmers' Market, Central Otago Farmers' Market..........just to list a few.

FMNZ with sponsorshop from our new webprovider Marketground we  will soon be going live with our Buy Local milestone 5, that of a national database of Authentic Farmers' markets and food producers of NZ.  For more information on the website development or Authenticity please contact Kerryn directly at  secretary@farmersmarket.org.nz

Chairpersons Report FMNZ 09 (abridged below and full copy available from FMNZ website)

Looking back 12 months ago it would have been hard to imagine that the world would have been plunged into economic depression, that swine flu was the animal favored disease of the year and that general  food prices would have increased by 12 to 30%,  and also that Bernadine Prince would want to endure another 17 hour flight to join us on the other side of the world for a Farmers Market forum.  While both large and small countries have struggled with social and economic issues I have yet to hear of a real farmers market in NZ who has not increased in either local food producers or customers, or a real farmers markets who has had to close it doors or pull in its high flying executives and close their expense accounts. 

While the past has been written only by our success and failures we must look forward to the next 12 months and beyond to ensure that what has begun with passion and commitment is now actioned and driven by great business and organisational skills, for passion is something that can not be bought or sold.    FMNZ is a inclusive organisation and we were founded on the belief of sharing information.  We need to share the right information in a manner that emulates what our organisation and individual markets really stand for that.   Value; not just for our farmers who sell their crops each week, but to our consumers who support our farmers each week, rain or shine.  When we  talk about Value we are often confused with what high street does, value in the money sense, therefore we need to promote the value in the social sense, the value of what our farmers' markets do to enliven and make our communities prosper, what the value of children who attend our markets and interact with food and what this does to the culture of our communities and the value of what keeping real money in local communities does for the whole social structure of NZ and beyond. 

No farmers' market organiser or manager would have envisioned that when they had the great idea of putting a Farmers market in their back yards that they would be the catalyst for the way people change their lives as the social values of a farmers markets are felt over a greater area of NZ and the world.  This applies to our smallest markets with just one stall in Diamond Harbour to our largest farmers markets in Southland and Northland and cuts through all boundaries of social behaviour.  The real benefits of Farmers markets are sometimes misunderstood or poorly communicated due to a number of reasons, the main being that we as managers and organises  are in the business of providing a venue for our farmers to be able to sell directly to consumers. This does not mean that we should not be doing everything we can to promote the full circle of the food chain, and we can see this  happening in our communities and markets with gardens in schools, communities gardens plots, box systems, sustainable agriculture programs and localvore awareness

I implore that our members put faith into the executive of FMNZ to enable for them to do what we have been entrusted to do, to promote and to educate the benefit of Farmers markets and local food distribution systems.  I believe that we have the expertise and we are beginning to have the resources available for us to make a real difference in the way the people shop on a regular basis.  While FMNZ can not be held responsible for the weather at your markets each week we do need to be held responsible for the protecting of the words "farmers' markets" and the real value of our markets, that of being a food market where local growers, farmers and artisan food producers  sell their ware directly to the consumer.  Vendors may only sell what they grow, farm , pickle, preserve, bake, smoke or catch themselves within a defined local area.  

Authenticity is our main issue moving forward and  the energies of the buy local contributions and the 6 milestones have all led  to Authenticity and what it means to farmers and consumers. I implore to all people who eat, (which is everybody)  to embrace food as a part of our culture and life, that when you sit at the table that you commuincate, laugh, cry, get angry, be happy, network, negate and most of all support our farmers and food producers as a part of our families and as a integral part of our communities

For any further enquires regarding FMNZ and for prompt service please e-mail or contact

Regards

 

Chris Fortune

Chairperson FMNZ

www.farmersmarkets.org.nz

info@farmersmarkets.org.nz

 

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Chris Fortune
(03) 579 3599 Home

021 935 995 Mobile

www.mfm.co.nz (marlborough farmers market)
www.farmersmarkets.org.nz
www.chrisfortune.co.nz

www.chrisfortunerecipes.blogspot.com
www.marlboroughcommunitygarden.blogspot.com

The Soup Kitchen

Soup: " is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth"

If you told me that people would be lining up for soup on the streets of Marlborough 12 months ago I would  have crossed the road and walked the other way.  If you told me that there would be a farmers' market in the middle of the central business district selling  hot soup to promote its producers I would  have told you that you were dreaming as we would only ever trade on Sunday mornings during the summer  and that was that.   Both are now reality and I take my apron off to the consummers of Marlborough for supporting local food producers

Soup is as old as boiling water (clever), and I can still remember being taught how to boil water in a paper bag as a boy scout so that is starting to show my age.  Soup orginates from the word "sop" and was advertisied in early  french market stalls as a antidote to physical exhustion (more commonly known as three thirty ises).    "Sop" recipes started to apprear in cookbooks such as Accomplished Gentlewoman's, The Frugal Housewife and the ever essenetial The Complete Housewife.   While cooking techniques  come and go  there is always the trendy fashions and fads of styles of soup  that appear and dissappear from our dinner tables (what ever happend to the classic consumme soup or the chilled  beetroot soup) but you just cannot beat a good old fashioed pot of slow cooked winter vegetable soup

Cambells soup Company (yes they are trying to register the brand name Farmers' Market Soup and have done so successfully around the world)  sells 2.5 billions bowls of there three most popular soups alone.    The Marborough Farmers' market sells 40 L per week on the streets of Marlborough and will with the support of Farmers' Market New Zealand will be opposing Cambells application for brand registration – yes I can see potato peelers being sharpened now as we sip on our antidote for physical exhustion.

Matt from Highfields Winery Farmers' Market Soup (traemarked and registered version)

 Matt's Leek and Potato soup with Sherrington's feta and cracked pepper (Highfield Estate)

For a full flavoured soup firstly, preferably a day ahead make a court Bouillon, you will need about 3 Litres.
Take 3 carrots, 3 celery sticks, 1 fennel bulb, 3 cloves of garlic, 5 peppercorns, 3 star anise, 6 Bay leaves and a handful of herbs.

Roughly chop vegetables and place in stockpot with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes remove and allow to cool.
The next day sieve off all the ingredients so as to leave yourself the liquid place back in pot and gently reheat.

To make to soup:
2 Tbspoons butter
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
600g potatoes peeled and cleaned, cut into small cubes
200g chopped and washed leek
3 litres of court Bouillon
1 Litre of cream
salt and pepper
200g Sherrington feta
cracked pepper

Method:
Melt butter in pot adding onion and garlic, gently brown until translucent, add potatoes and leek and gently sweat.
Add Bouillon and simmer for around 30-45 minutes take soup and pass through a moule or food processor transfer back to pot and gently reheat adding cream and feta. Season to taste and finish with cracked pepper. Yum.

How to avoid the Swine Flue

What a really interesting week I have had, I am not sure if it was good or bad but it certainly had its highs and its lows and by the end I felt like a  free range chicken gently roasting in a hot oven with salt and lemon.   Now how does a free range chicken feel I hear you ask, well it has led a happy and fulfilled life on the farm and now that it is in my oven it will be loved and cared for by the lemon and salt!    I  have meet some of most interesting and sincere people  and also dealt with people and things that I would normally avoid like the swine flue (sorry to the pigs , I mean the Influenza H1N1)

 

Lets  rewind the clock  -  it all started with a meeting with the Senior advisor for the Equal Employment Opportunities and Crown Entities and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner on Monday or to be more precise the Kaihautu Oritenga Mahi.    No I have not done a Gordon Ramsey and abused my staff (humm now there's a idea!) but rather we discussed the bigger picture of what is happening in NZ in regards to the opportunities in Hospitality and the fact that I have had more people applying for cooking positions in the last two months than I have in the last two years.    Moving along to a meeting  with a local butcher talking about Beef and the quality of what we export versus what we can purchase as consumers, a wild foods tasting competition using four different parts of Goat from Premium Game, hosting a tour group and serving lamb racks and local seafood, serving up Crayfish and Kai Moana (thanks Ted you are the real star ! ) to 330 guests at the Stars in Your eyes  Competition  for the Spring Creek and District Lions Club to raise funds for distribution amongst Marlborough youth and youth Groups. 

 

To finish off the week it was my great privilege to be involved with Brayshaw park and the Marlborough Community Gardens,  everyone  has to put on there list of once In a lifetime experiences of running around town with a vintage tractor collecting tools and Donations followed by a sausage sizzle (thanks mike from Meaters) and a cup of tea. 

Now the swine flue things and people  that distracted me during the week,   I think that I will leave the that Chapter for my new book as I would rather remember the good things in the week rather than the negative!

 

How to avoid the H1N1 flue

 

1 Free range Chicken

Marlborough Flaky Salt

Marlborough olive oil

3 Lemons

12 tea bags

A mixture of Community Groups

A handful of Children and laughter

8 Vintage Tractors

3 Flat white Lattes at Raupo Riverside Café

Sausages from Meaters (they are the best!)

White toast bread and tomato sauce (wheat bread if you  must)

Ted and his Kai Moana

Wild food from Premium Game

A Flock of great Kitchen staff

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, sprinkle the salt over the chicken and squeeze the lemon over the top,  drizzle with olive oil and put the lemons inside the chicken, place in the oven for 45-60 mins or until the juices run clear ( The secret is to leave it to rest for as long as you have cooked it, and this is the hardest part).  Take the remaining ingredients and scatter them around your week allowing enough between each so that you can spend time with your family and friends, if you do not scatter them evenly then repeat the following week ensuring  that you get a even spread of all.  You can add different ingredients into the recipe but ensure that you leave the negative stuff to the side otherwise it will taint all of the good stuff.   Once the chicken has rested serve with roasted winter vegetables gathered from local food producers and enjoy.