"Hi there. I have visited on every occassion the farmers at Lakeside in wind & rain and I am impressed with whats on offer and the value for money! I went there with £20 in my pocket and allthough I spent the lot I got a lot! All my fruit and veg, meat and pies, soups and sweets, cakes and even a personalised hair brush for my daughter!
"The best part is you can talk to the farmers with mud still on the wellie boots from the fields to producers of the products and they give you freindly honest open advice.
"Regardless if you are buying or browsing they are happy and polite and will allow you to sample the products before you buy!
"This is the best service in my opinion and a very refreshing differance to standing in a que at a supermarket with the untrained uncaring staff who just unload the boxes and leave you to pack your own bags.
"I would strongly recomend the farmers markets and I will try to visit every month!
"Simon and I bought some fillet steak from Rare Breed Meats which was extremely good - best we've had for a very long time, tender and tasty. The raspberries and strawberries... looked, smelt and tasted fantastic and the price was good too. We liked the young chap on the Perry Court stall, who answered all our questions honestly and knowledgeably and... we are big big fans of le Moulin (who very kindly put up with us inflicting our sadly limited French on them)
At the moment, our household food budget is quite tight, and I was impressed to be able to buy pretty much everything I wanted for a week, within my budget of £30. I am thinking seriously of rearranging my life to try to come more regularly to Romford
I would be very happy for you to use my comments about good prices, because this is one of the issues I find particularly frustrating when trying to convince people to shop at the farmers' market - this received wisdom that supermarkets are cheap and offer choice and save you time and that farmers' markets are expensive and limited and an effort - all of which is largely untrue in ways I am sure you are perfectly aware of. They are unaware of how big the payoff is in terms of product quality, and how much the social interaction of the market enhances the shopping experience"
"Once again, I was very impressed with your market at Romford. The fruit farmer from Colchester, with his raspberries, strawberries, cherries and blueberries has a superb product - you just couldn't get any better anywhere. And once again, we easily came in on budget - and this is the expensive time of year with all the summer fruit and veg.
I have checked out the new website - looks good, nice colours and nice rich looking images!
I see you are starting a market once a month in Upminster on a Thursday. I do hope this goes well. Thursday is a good day, so long as one is close enough to the market and can fit it into the working day. That way, you've bought all your lovely fresh produce just close enough to the weekend when you have more time and energy to prepare and enjoy food."
"Please congratulate your stallholders on a fantastic market, and many thanks for your response to my previous email".
Essex Farmers Markets welcomes your comments.