05/04/2002

Farming food goes weekly at St. George's Market

Belfast's award-winning Farm and Speciality Food Market goes from strength to strength, with the introduction of weekly trading at St. George's Market from Saturday April 6.

To celebrate the move to a weekly slot, a parade of vintage tractors and steam-driven tractor engines will parade through Belfast City Centre on Saturday morning, leaving the Odyssey at 9am and arriving at St. George's Market at around 10am, where they will remain on display for the rest of the morning.

Started in the spring of 1999 by Belfast City Council and FARM, the farm and retail movement, St. George's Market collected the Supreme Award at the annual Ballygowan Irish Food Writers Guild Awards in Dublin last week.

The decision to launch a Farmers' Market three years ago was the first step in a long-term plan by the Farm And Retail Movement (FARM) – an organization made up of people already involved in farm shops and pick-your-own enterprises - to help develop the structure for producers at the high quality end of the local food market to bring their goods and products into direct contact with the consumer. The success of the market in meeting its objective of educating Belfast people about good locally-produced food soon led to an expansion, from the original monthly Farmers' Market, to a bi-monthly Farm and Speciality Food Market.

The Farm and Speciality Food Market will be at St. George's Market, Belfast, every Saturday from April 6, between 8am and 2pm.

(MB)

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