Row over farmers' markets

A row has today broken out over the produce being sold at farmers' markets in the region.

A farmer and sausage maker says people were being misled because some stallholders do not make the goods they sell.

Sausage-maker Alan Dobson said many traders at markets in Stourbridge, Halesowen, Dudley, Kidderminster, Bilston and Cannock buy stock from elsewhere. But the firm which runs the markets, LSD Promotions, denied people were being misled.

It said there were signs making it quite clear if goods were not home grown.

Mr Dobson, whose Parson's Nose farm, at Suckley, near Worcester, won West Midlands Tastiest Sausage title at the Heart of England Fine Foods awards this year, said: "People are under the impression they are buying straight from the producer but hardly anyone at these markets is actually a farmer.

"The people who go to these things are being deceived. It's not good for farmers' markets and it's not good for farmers."

LSD boss, Dermot McCillicuddy, said 90 per cent of those trading as farmers produced their own wares.

He said: "If for example we have a trader selling cheese which is made in Somerset there will be a sign making this quite clear so people know exactly what they are buying and are not being misled.

"The farmers' markets have been going since the early 1990s and have done a huge amount for small producers in the region.

"I think the title of farmers' market that was used from the start was a bit misleading and they should have been called producers' markets.

"They might not all be farmers in the traditional sense, but the majority produce their own stock.

"All our markets are actually farmers and craft markets and I certainly haven't had any complaints from customers."

Birmingham City Council insists all stall-holders at its fortnightly farmers' market are genuine producers.