麻豆社

Farmers' markets are one of the most well-known alternative food networks, but how successful are they? Sybil Ruscoe visits the market in Gloucester to find out how viable it is for farmers to sell direct.

Sybil meets Cardien "Gerb" Gerbrands to hear about the history of this market and why building up a customer relationship is the key for any stall-holder. Caroline Keene from Over Farm says its the face-to-face customer contact that keeps coming back to the market year after year, and Jan Williams from Madgett's Farm explains how her family turned to ducks, geese and turkey production when they found they couldn't make money from dairy cattle anymore.

Plus there are reports from a veg box scheme in Pembrokeshire, a firm that harnesses social media to connect consumers with the growth and welfare of the animals that they're buying, and the farmers' market that was struggling so much that it was reinvented by twenty-two year old Chloe Donovan, Granddaughter of the woman who set up the market, into a fully-functioning part of the Food Assembly network.

Producer: Toby Field.