Tasting success, ‘Goan Farmers Market’ to be monthly affair

MARGAO: After the recent success of ‘Goan Farmers Market’ that was held at Daddy’s Home in Gogol-Margao, plans are now afoot to make the market a monthly affair.
The ‘Goan Farmers Market’ is a initiative of a group of youngsters comprising the Viegas sisters, Chiara and Sheena, Sheena’s husband Ian Menezes, assisted by Ian’s mother, Anne Menezes. A total of eight markets have been organised since May 2016.
“The idea cropped up over lunch one day when we were discussing how difficult it was to source local fruits and vegetables. Even local women don’t necessarily sell locally grown fruits and vegetables. So we decided to do something about it and that’s how we started the ‘Goan Farmers Market’ with the objective of promoting local produce,” said Chiara.
Farmers are given a platform to sell their produce directly to the consumer, she said. “This in turn helps them reap the fruits of their labour, and hopefully will encourage more to grow their land versus selling it for development. We also want to encourage people to buy local and eat local. When people come to the market, they meet the people who grow their food. They can get tips on how to grow their own kitchen gardens, make their own compost or even seek help when starting out their own farms which has actually happened,” Chiara added.
The vendors at the market come from areas like Raia, Nuvem, Verna, Navelim, Colva, Ponda and Mapusa.
“We have organised a total of eight markets till date. Last month, we had 24 stalls selling locally grown fruits and vegetables like bananas, papayas and kokada; salad greens; free-range poultry eggs; homemade ghee, lassi and srikhand; tender coconuts; cold pressed coconut oil; coconut vinegar; coconut flour; handmade soaps; cane baskets; bamboo toothbrushes; jungle jewellery made from seeds; cloth refrigerator bags; potted plants, saplings, seedlings and compost; traditional Goan sweets like bebinca and pinagre; homemade masalas, jams, pickles, wines, organic squashes, cakes and wheat halwa; besides Goan-Portuguese dishes like pastries de banana, pastries de Nata, empadinhas and apa de camarao. We also had live retro music by a duo band ‘The Amigos’ as well as a live grill food counter,” Ian said.
It was a pleasant sight to see cloth bags being handed out to customers. But what was interesting to note was the organisers’ efforts to promote bamboo straws as an alternative to curb the use of plastic straws.