For me, I just love cooking up a storm in my kitchen, particularly when I’m using quality, fresh locally sourced produce and that’s exactly what you’ll get when you visit the Byron Farmers’ Market (BMF), home to over 70 stall-holders from around the Byron Shire.
Since hitting the ground running seventeen years ago, this vibrant not-for-profit organisation has gone from strength to strength bringing together both traditional and organic farmers and producers, some award winning, which has helped to establish a marketplace roundly favoured by the public.
To maintain and grow this support, sending a message to consumers that what they are buying is authentic and will live up to expectation is so very pivotal to the successful longevity of the Market. To achieve this standard, every stall-holder, as a member of the BFM Association, must pass a rigorous application process, hold suitable insurance cover and a trading permit from the Byron Shire Council.
The Association’s scrutiny of each member’s business, gives them the confidence to guarantee product integrity and deliver a viable market environment for buyers and sellers alike.
The rich, fertile volcanic soil of the Byron Shire, together with the ingenuity and skill of the stall-holders, is the ideal recipe to grow or create just about anything including a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry, diary and seafood produce, eggs, coffee beans, specialised beverages, soup, pasta, preserves, honey, herbs and spices, breads, pastries, cakes and other baked delights and lastly, but by no means least, glorious blooms of flowers.
No matter what is for sale, the beauty of the BFM is the opportunity it provides people like you and me to speak directly to the producers about their farming methods, source of ingredients, how to store, prepare and use what they have grown and importantly, offer them crucial feedback, something you simply cannot do at your local supermarket.
What I also like about the BFM Association, is their willingness to give back to community by regularly donating either money or produce to many local charity groups and events. Like those organisations they help, their generosity is invaluable and contributes to supporting a cohesive society.
With winter in full swing and the superb amenities of your Byron Bay Beach House kitchen, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t turn out a feast fit for that proverbial king after a must visit to the BFM which comes to life every Thursday between 7.00 and 11.00 am.
For those planning ahead, the Market, currently located at the Butler Street Reserve, is
moving to their new home sited within the Cavanbah Centre in Ewingsdale Road on 11 July.
The soon to be new location is only a five minute drive and a four kilometre bike ride from town with ample free car parking available. Patrons will also be able to access the Market via a free shuttle bus service operating from both the Byron Community Centre and Butler Street.
