Longford Farmer's Market: Michael Menton of Atlantis Fresh Fish

With an increase in the number of people being mindful of the direct effect on their health as a result of the quality of food they eat, coupled with the enormous push back against ingredients like palm oil, as well as talk of the Mercosur Deal inviting hormone-laden beef into the Irish market, it’s no surprise to learn that farmer's markets are now growing in popularity.

This popularity is expected to surge in the near future. In the latest issue of the Longford Leader, we chat with the stall holders of the farmers market in Longford Town, which runs every Friday morning in Market Square.

Fishmonger Michael Menton of Atlantis Fresh Fish:

“Here, I’ll tell you a good one!” laughs fishmonger Michael Menton of Atlantis Fresh Fish. “When Bertie Ahern was going around canvassing there years back, some reporter had this bright idea of getting him to hold up a salmon." 

“Next thing he asked me if Bertie could stand in the (fishmonger) trailer. I said yes, so Bertie stood in the trailer, his sharp suit on him, held up the salmon for the camera, and next thing all this ice fell out of the belly of the salmon and down his suit. It was all over the daily papers. I’d say Bertie very nearly killed the poor reporter afterwards.” 

Michael is such a fan of fresh produce from farmers markets, he makes a point of buying food from them even when on holiday. 

“When you’re used to eating the fish off the boats and it's fresh, you can't go back to eating the other stuff,” he explains. “Oh, I couldn't look at a burger!” he adds with a laugh. 

Read More: Talented Longford chef praises family for instilling love of authentic Italian cooking

“When I went to Portugal for a holiday, I got to know the fishermen over there so I can go down to the boats myself, buy the fish whole and fillet it. I love fish. I won't eat it in a restaurant though because it's not fresh."

“You could be sitting in a restaurant in a seaside village, looking out at the boats coming in, and thinking the fish came in from one of them." 

“I guarantee you the fish in that restaurant has come from some other parts of the world. Very few places would have it (fresh local fish)."

“A lot of places have central billing, so they deal with one big company and all the restaurants are supplied by that. There isn’t a lad coming in every day of the week with fresh fish.” 

Michael adds, “At the moment, farmers markets in Ireland are not as popular as they are in other countries. If you go out to France or Portugal, the markets there are packed."

“There's a farmers market in the Algarve, Portugal, and all the vegetables there are fresh and grown on local farms. There could be 40 vegetable trailers there and  they have every kind of vegetable as well as things like nuts." 

“I love almond nuts for instance, and the last time I was over there, I brought home a big bag of them. The taste is completely different when you buy the real deal and not the commercially produced version."

“The vegetables, everything they have in that farmer’s market is straight out of the farms over there. The market only happens once a week, but the stuff is gorgeous.” 

“If you taste food like scallions, potatoes, and lettuce fresh from the farm, they taste gorgeous compared to what you buy in the shops."

"I had a bit of fresh fish and colcannon recently. It was just mashed potatoes, pepper, salt, butter and then your scallions but it was so beautiful!”

The farmer's market is located in Longford Town's Market Square and runs every Friday from 9am until 2pm.

For anyone who wants to get involved in trading at the Longford Farmer's Market: 

New traders are always welcome to apply for a stall, so if you’re considering joining the farmer's market, here Shirley O'Halleran explains what’s involved:

“We’re getting busier so we would absolutely welcome  new traders. We have an application form process."

"It's also a stipulation with our licence that it's food traders only and as we want to keep each stall different, new stalls would have to have something different to what’s already here."

"If anyone wants to speak with us, we're here at the market every Friday morning, from 9am until 2pm, and are happy to help in whatever way we can.”

Read Next: Talented Longford chef praises family for instilling love of authentic Italian cooking

Read Next: Stepping back in time: Inside Longford's Connolly Barracks ahead of it's €7m facelift