Feilding has NZ's best farmers' market

Feilding’s Farmers Market has been judged the best in the country by some of New Zealand’s leading food experts.

The market was the overall winner of the 2012 Taste Farmers Market Awards.

The market was set up by Feilding Promotion’s community development team seven years ago, with the aim of attracting more shoppers to Feilding, providing a start-up platform for new businesses, and increasing the town’s rural profile.

The initiative has been very successful on all fronts, says Raewyn Loader from Feilding Promotion, who highlights the local community’s backing of the market as key to its winning formula.

“Our community is very supportive of the market, they take ownership of the market, it belongs to them,” she says.

And another reason for the market’s win, according to Raewyn, is: “Consistency and quality - fresh locally grown product available every Friday in Manchester Square – rain, hail or shine.”

The Taste Farmers Market Awards is an annual event celebrating real food producers throughout New Zealand.

This year’s awards were judged by leading chef and Canterbury locavore Jonny Schwass, Masterchef 2011 winner Nadia Lim and acclaimed author and chef Julie Biuso.

Categories included best food producer from the kitchen bench, freshest producer from the water, tastiest food producer from the butchery and freshest food producer from the paddock, as well as the farmers market of the year as voted by the public.

To read more about the awards, get the July issue of Taste magazine.