Joke of the Week

Fishmonger at Shoreham Farmer's Market. “What’s the best thing to put on a Tesco burger? £5 each way.” 

More jokes here about horse burgers. Not to mention lasagne. Or spaghetti bolognese. And who knows what else. Is it funny? Not really. But it’s easier to laugh than think about what’s going on - a consequence of globalised supply chains, the commoditisation of food production and constant downward pressure on prices driven by economies of scale. You don’t have to drive to a supermarket to do your shopping. You don’t have to go to a supermarket at all. And you don’t have to eat ready meals. If you did before, why would you now? (Photo: horse butcher’s shop, Venice)

Shoreham Farmer’s Market

Shoreham Farmers Market is now back in its normal location after a £600,000 facelift to pedestrianize East Street. The market, which offers producers a local outlet to sell direct to the public, encourages healthy eating and more environmentally friendly and sustainable food production methods. It has now been going for over 10 years, and is probably the largest in Sussex. It runs from 9am to 1pm, and its best to get there early for the best produce. For those of us in Hove, Shoreham is our closest Farmers Market, just a quick ride along the coast on the 700 Stagecoach bus. The great thing about Shoreham Farmer’s Market is that it’s completely un-poncey: there’s a wide range of local produce, with around 70 stalls selling good food and drink, grown and made by locals, and sold at prices that give the supermarkets a run for the money. Sometimes including amazing things like these English melons, £1 each (very tasty they were too). Do yourself a favour, get along there on the second Saturday of each month, talk to, and buy from, the people who grow and make some of the best food you can eat, at prices we can all afford.

A Member of Parliament Takes To The Street

Three cheers to Tim Loughton, Tory MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families in the Coalition Government. Not for anything he may or may not have done on the policy front, but because he holds a monthly surgery for his constituents on the road during Shoreham Farmer's Market. It’s a great example of how a street can be so much more than what Jan Gehl calls “a traffic sewer.”

Cars and Shopping: Salience, Supermarkets and Farmers Markets

Cash is king, or so they used to say. These days, we mostly use other forms of payment – whether it’s standing orders and direct debits for regular payments or credit cards for pretty much everything else. The move away from cash is a big psychological factor underlying the growth in personal debt - spending money on credit cards is so easy, and it isn't real money, is it? It's also another reason why people prefer to shop in supermarkets rather than in real markets, like this one in Shoreham, West Sussex. It's not just that it’s easy to drive, and park, at a supermarket, but supermarkets take credit cards while real markets tend to deal in cash. Behavioural economics tells us that salience, the “noticeability” of something, is a key factor when we make decisions. Salience is why marketeer's use attention-grabbing words like 'new' and 'free.' Another type of salience comes with things that hurt - the “ouch” factor that suppliers would prefer to avoid. Cash is salient because handing over hard earned notes creates pain that we’d prefer to avoid. Unless, of course, you prefer to live within your means, pay as you go, and keep a grip on how much you’re actually spending. In which case….get yourself to a market a.s.a.p.