Walter and Annette Young

URsTV visited the Ayrshire Farmers’ Market at the Foregate in Kilmarnock on Saturday and the first stall was Afton Glen Meats.

Afton Glen Meats are based in New Cumnock and owned by Walter and Annette Young.  There was a fantastic selection of home produced meats including “buffalo burgers”! Yes, they were absolutely huge! Walter has also invited URsTV down to their farm to take some videos of farm life so watch this space for further updates.

Tarelgin Farm Foods & Smokehouse, Coalhall, near Drongan. George Keenan was serving behind the Tarelgin stall this morning and this is George’s first visit to the Kilmarnock Farmers’ Market. Pat O’Shea owns Tarelgin and as well as getting detailed information about the selection available on their website there are also some tasty recipes to try out. You can shop at the farm and pick your own selection or order online – the produce on show was mouth-watering!

George Keenan

Mary’s Marvellous Munchables, Straiton. Mary Dunlop has been attending the Farmers Market since its inception in 2000 and has built up such a long line of regular customers, by the time URsTV got to her stall there was next to nothing left!  Mary produces traditional high quality home baking and preserves from old family recipes. If you want to taste anything from this stall – get there early!

Lime Tree Larder, Kilbirnie. Jean Wilson was serving at the Lime Tree Larder Stall this morning and has been attending the Ayrshire Farmers’ Market in Kilmarnock for the last 5 years.  Specially handmade chocolates and luxury dairy ice cream, jams and chutneys. All the delicious food is prepared at their farm in Kilbirnie and Jean has been producing food from there for 6 years now. The name came from the row of lime trees which were planted by Jean’s grandfather in 1927!

David Stokes

Splendid Soups & Such, Straiton. David Stokes was serving at the stall today but the company is run by his wife Alison. Alison lives with David in Straiton but all the cooking is done in Auchincruive at the Scottish Agricultural College. As well as the homemade soups, Alison also makes ready meals, puddings, chutneys and preserves and they travel to many other markets in Ayr, Loch Lomond and Falkirk to name but a few.

A local Fairtrade Group run by St Matthews Church in Grassyards Road, Kilmarnock also had a stall at the Farmers’ Market. Taking their turn to serve behind the stall today were Katrina Livingstone and Margaret Dalton.

Katrina Livingstone & Margaret Dalton

The aim of Fairtrade is to improve prices and encourage decent working conditions for workers and farmers in all developing countries.  Fairtrade requires all its member companies to pay sustainable prices allowing many more people to now live above the poverty line and to gain self respect.

The Fairtrade vision is simply to enable everyone to maintain a decent and dignified livelihood and develop their full potential.

Which sounds like a wonderful vision to us at URsTV!