The whole family went to Flemington today, for I think the third time, to the Paddy’s Food Markets. Until recently, it was something I’d never done before, but already it seems like such a smart thing, that is easy, new, but old at the same time.
For most people, food is something you get from the local supermarket, but for the smart ones (and admittedly the ones able, though it doesn’t take much) the markets are the place to go. Weekly, monthly, whatever.
It’s always such a place of havoc, and noise, but damn the prices are good. We got potatoes, eggs, herbs, mushrooms, apples, pears, capsicum, chicken and more, all in amounts and for prices you wouldn’t get anywhere else. Enough for Sallie to do her canning that will keep us in the food we like for weeks, for far less cost, and better quality, than the local supermarket.
And the other thing you have to notice about the food markets is that Anglo Aussies for the most part don’t do it. Both buyers are sellers are almost always from the various multicultural groups of Australia, and the best part is that they’re from any number of groups. Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Greek, Italian and more … they all know what it’s about. About buying in bulk, preparing your own food, storing things in the right way.
It’s traditional thinking and living in a lot of ways, but for the smart people, it’s a new way of doing it in a century where we’re probably not going to be able to live like 20th century suburbanites like people used to (and that’s if we even want to anymore, which is a bigger driver right now).
Even the kids don’t mind going now — it can get a bit concerning going in with a pram and having forklifts and hundreds of trolleys and people pushing past everywhere, but Will finds it exciting and Alex just went to sleep in there, so no trouble anymore 🙂
I freely admit that Sallie is the main driver with this, and I like that. She’s shown me a lot of new things, which is what a marriage should be about. And she does most of the preparing and preserving of this produce, even though I do most of the final cooking 🙂
I’m just glad we can get good food more cheaply, in a new old way.