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THE sights and sounds of the Carlow Farmers’ Market will make the transition to the small screen on Thursday 30 October.

RTÉ’s Ear to the Ground kicks off a new series with an investigation into the effect of cheaper food on Irish farmers and presenter Helen Carroll visits Carlow Farmers’ Market to find out how the recession is impacting on Carlow’s local producers.

Farmers’ markets exploded in recent years but the programme now asks if were they are just a luxury by-product of the Celtic Tiger era.
Carlow’s Farmers’ Market, situated in the town centre, has being thriving every Saturday where local consumers can deal directly with producers like Elizabeth Bradley of Carlow Cheese, Fenagh and organic beef farmer Eddie Mulhall of Coolanowle Beef, guaranteeing consumers fresh produce and full traceability.

But as people take a hard look at how they spend their money and with supermarkets now driving prices down as they vie for market share, will farmers’ markets like Carlow suffer?

Already Carlow Farmers’ Market has noticed a downturn in trade so Ear to the Ground goes to the market to find out the mood of producers and consumers.

On the programme, Elizabeth Bradley describes how she is looking to the future and is confident she can continue to develop more cheeses and weather the storm, while Mary Teehan of The Truffle Fairy is hopeful that in tougher times consumers will support their local producers and keep Irish farmers and producers in business.
The show is on RTÉ One at 7pm on 30 October

SOURCE - Carlow Nationalist October 2008