Markets lead in quest for local produce

SHOPPERS are flocking to farmers’ markets as they turn their back on supermarkets in their quest to buy local fresh produce like vegetables, cheese and meat.

Yesterday at the country’s first conference on farmers’ markets, new Food Minister Trevor Sargent pledged greater support for more local sales.

Delegates learnt the number of such markets had mushroomed from a mere one in 1996 to 126 today.