Chichester Farmers' Market shortlisted in the Sussex Food and Drink Awards 2016
Food lovers across Chichester District are being urged to get voting after Chichester Farmers' Market was named as one of the finalists in the Sussex Food and Drink Awards.
The announcement was made on July 6 at the 'big reveal' event at Harveys Brewery, Lewis in East Sussex where the names of all the award finalists were made public. Chichester is one of ten in the running for the Farmers' Market category.
The Chichester Farmers' Markets are organised by Chichester District Council. The first one was held in 1998 and since then they have become very popular with residents and visitors.
The markets take place fortnightly on the first and third Friday of the month and run between 9am and 2pm in East Street and North Street. They regularly attract more than 30 stallholders, with shoppers able buy a wide variety of tempting local produce from sausages and meats to cheeses, fruit and vegetables, pastries, cakes and drinks.
The council also runs a farmers' market in Golden Square, Petworth on the fourth Saturday of the month between 8.30am and 1.30pm.
To be part of the markets, stallholders must follow a series of conditions:
- all produce must be grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked, smoked or processed by the stallholder;
- the stallholder must be from the local area; and
- all processed food must contain a minimum of 30% local ingredients where possible.
Stallholders are required to grow, rear, bake, and/or preserve all their produce and are based within 30 miles of Chichester. A number of stalls have also won individual awards for the high standard of their produce.
Councillor Roger Barrow, Cabinet Member for Environment at Chichester District Council, says: "We believe our market is of a very high quality and so I am very pleased to learn that Chichester Farmers' Market has been shortlisted in these awards.
"A lot of effort goes into organising the markets and supporting our stallholders who work very hard to produce all the wonderful food that they bring to the market.
"I'd like to thank all the producers and all the shoppers who have supported the markets over the years. I hope as many people as possible across the district will take the time to vote, it only takes a couple of minutes, and I hope they will continue to shop local by supporting the markets and enjoying the excellent produce available."
Voting in the Sussex Food and Drink Awards(Opens in a new window) closes on Monday 21 September 2015.
Find out more about Chichester District Council's Farmers Markets and the annual Local Food Fare which takes place on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 August this year.
Date of Release: 17 July 2015
Reference: 3540