# Fruit & veg in Cork city



## AAA (26 Mar 2006)

Can anyone tell me where I can get the best value on fruit & veg in Cork city? Prices seem to vary alot between the supermarkets. Are there any independent traders that beat the lot in value.

Thanks.


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## Goldman (26 Mar 2006)

For quality goto the English Market in town-they have the freshest stuff. I'm sure you can get organic stuff there if you want too.


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## ninsaga (26 Mar 2006)

yep.. Superfruit in the English Market have a good range of stuff. Also if theres a crowd who do the organic stuff if you're into that. Don't know their name but the are 1st on the left if you enter from Princes Street.

ninsaga


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## woods (26 Mar 2006)

But be sure to take a clothes peg for your nose. That place stinks to high heaven.


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## Diziet (27 Mar 2006)

woods said:
			
		

> But be sure to take a clothes peg for your nose. That place stinks to high heaven.


 
LOL! I disagree! The English market is a real asset to the city for people who like good food. 

Saturday farmer's market on the Coal Quay has a good and very resonably priced organic vegetable stall by a local grower (Caroline Robinson). She is on the side nearest the river.

The two shopping centres in Douglas have nice and cheap vegetable shops too.

Or try the farm shop at Waterfall farms, in Waterfall, out of the city. Lovely variety and the prices are good.


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## grenzgebiet (4 Apr 2006)

Must agree with Woods - this English Market is often praised - even by well known "food people" in Examiner articles but it is actually extremely dirty and unhygenic. I would never buy anything unwrapped or packaged here (except at Iago - because it is impossible to buy real cheese in Cork anywhere else). Look up - see the spiders' web with thick dirt hanging from the roofs. Look down - see that nothing has been cleaned under the stalls here for a long ....long.... time. All other markets in Europe pack up their products in the evenings and sluice out the ground, - clean for the next day's trade .... but not in Cork.
Pity, could be a good place but just too grimy.

Farmers' Market in Midleton is worth a visit on Saturday morning.


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## woods (7 Apr 2006)

I would go further and say that when I pass any of the entrances on the street I speed up my step because of the smell.


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## Diziet (7 Apr 2006)

It depends on where you prefer to buy food. In supermarkets, everything is washed, wrapped in plastic, the veg has travelled from all over the place and the meat is generally too fresh to be tasty, of variable quality, and expensive. If you take all the packaging, washing chemicals and immense amounts of plastic out of the equation, you have a less antiseptic system but more scope for high quality, less expensive food. 

In the last ten years, there is a steady downward trend on cooking from scratch - everything is packaged to within an inch of its life. Buying and preparing food is a pleasure that seems to be increasingly hard to find.

The market in Cork is on a par with most European markets, and a lot better than many. It is not a supermarket, and I sincerely hope it never becomes one. You are not going to get ill from it - it is poor hygiene at home which is the reason for most cases of food poisoning.


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## Mumha (7 Apr 2006)

Well said Diziet. And there is a fantastic range of foods on offer. We always go in there on Saturday morning to stock up.


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## ClubMan (7 Apr 2006)

Diziet said:
			
		

> If you take all the packaging, washing chemicals and immense amounts of plastic out of the equation, you have a less antiseptic system but more scope for high quality, less expensive food.


 So why is organic produce generally so expensive compared to mass produced produce?

For the record we buy most of our fruit and veg loose from a couple of lads who do a door to door delivery run on Saturday mornings or from _Moore Street _and most of our meat from local butchers.


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## Mumha (8 Apr 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> most of our meat from local butchers.


 
We do too (that or the Market). It has been a long time since we bought meat in a supermarket.


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## woods (8 Apr 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> For the record we buy most of our meat from local butchers.


I personally can not understand why any body would want to drag home the rotting remains of a dead carcus and bring it in to their house where it rots further for a few days before they introduce more cancer causing agents to it by cooking it. But the really amazing thing is that they then introduce this cancer causing rotten material in to their bodies and that of their children. The world sure is a funny place.


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## ClubMan (8 Apr 2006)

What on earth are you on about? Have you never heard of refrigerators?

And what's a "carcus" and "carcer"?


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## woods (8 Apr 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> What on earth are you on about? Have you never heard of refrigerators?


Do you not know that they have to allow it to rot for some time before you use it. I think they call in "hanging". Nobody eats Fresh Kill.


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## ClubMan (8 Apr 2006)

I have never received dodgy meat or food poisoning from my butcher. I am happy to eat the meat that they sell us. In moderation meat is not a significant risk factor in cancer or most other diseases.


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## Diziet (10 Apr 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> So why is organic produce generally so expensive compared to mass produced produce?
> 
> For the record we buy most of our fruit and veg loose from a couple of lads who do a door to door delivery run on Saturday mornings or from _Moore Street _and most of our meat from local butchers.


 
Hi Clubman,

I also find organic produce expensive, and will not buy organic veg that has been imported as this defeats the point for me. In fact, I only selectively buy organic veggies. I will, however buy from a local grower in the Cork Farmers' market - her veggies are locally produced on her farm and the quality is superb. Although a little more expensive than non- organic, the variety is good and they last for a very long time - longer than supermarket veg as they have only been picked the evening before. And I never realise what carrots should taste like until I bought organic ones. The flavour was just fantastic.

Organic produce does have a lower yield and takes more effort so I suppose it is unlikely to be cheaper than non-organic. Like you, I prefer to use specialist suppliers rather than supermarkets. 

cheers,
Diziet


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## woods (12 Apr 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> In moderation meat is not a significant risk factor in cancer or most other diseases.


 I suppose that this depends on who you are reading or listening to. If you want to stay cancer free then I suggest that you read "The China Study".

Regarding the organic veg. We used to do a weekly shop in the Organic Shop in Douglas until they had chicken removed before christmas because it was not organic. I do not mind paying extra for organic but you have to be able to believe that you are getting what you are paying your hard earned money for. I am dissapointed with the shop in Douglas. It is a shame that they could not do it right.


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## JohnnyBoy (12 Apr 2006)

Is Woods taking the Michael.The Old English Market is acknowledged as fantastic.You have got to be neurotic re your concerns re dirt/cleanliness.Correct me if I'm wrong but vegetable tend to come out of the ground with dirt on them.Perhaps u appreciate more the sprays in the supermarket.
Ridiculous,anyway there is another spot by the South Infirmary


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## ClubMan (12 Apr 2006)

woods said:
			
		

> I suppose that this depends on who you are reading or listening to. If you want to stay cancer free then I suggest that you read "The China Study".


 Thanks but I think I'll take my chances with having a relatively well balanced diet (including meat, poultry and fish in moderation), a reasonable amount of exercise and avoiding certain high risk activities such as smoking, recreational drugs (other than alcohol in my case), casual unprotected sex etc. I can't see myself going vegetarian (again - I was for about two years in my early 20s) and certainly not vegan.


> We used to do a weekly shop in the Organic Shop in Douglas until they had chicken removed before christmas because it was not organic.


 How long were they selling the fake organic poultry? How do you know that the rest of their product is genuinely organic? Fake organic produce seems to be quite common from what I've read about the issue recently (e.g. the _Irish Times _report on organic foods last September). Don't forget that there is no objective evidence that organic produce is necessarily better from a nutritional and food safety point of view and only anecdotal evidence that it is necessarily/consistently better from a taste point of view.


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## gramlab (13 Apr 2006)

Saturday market in midleton (near the s/valu) has some very good fruit and veg. Busy though so go early if you can. Also heard the market in mahon point on a thursday(i think) is supposed to have some good stuff.


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## lff12 (19 Apr 2006)

woods said:
			
		

> I would go further and say that when I pass any of the entrances on the street I speed up my step because of the smell.


 
Hang on lads.  The smell is because of the fishmongers.  I don't think its anything to do with the dirt.  To be honest I find the fruit there fresher than any of the 3 nearest supermarkets (who all sell fruit thats half rotten).


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## woods (20 Apr 2006)

lff12 said:
			
		

> Hang on lads. The smell is because of the fishmongers. I don't think its anything to do with the dirt. To be honest I find the fruit there fresher than any of the 3 nearest supermarkets (who all sell fruit thats half rotten).


I had figured that it was because of the fish but I can not comment on the dirt as the smell prevents me from entering the place.


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## Diziet (21 Apr 2006)

woods said:
			
		

> I had figured that it was because of the fish but I can not comment on the dirt as the smell prevents me from entering the place.


 
Market is fine - if you have a sensitive nose then shop somewhere where everything is hermetically sealed in plastic.


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## woods (21 Apr 2006)

Diziet said:
			
		

> Market is fine - if you have a sensitive nose then shop somewhere where everything is hermetically sealed in plastic.


Don't worry. I do. But I still have to pass the entrance to the market on the street. I can not get away from that one.


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## JohnnyBoy (21 Apr 2006)

Honestly Woods,r u trying to take the mickey???


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## Cati76 (21 Apr 2006)

Woods, I know what you mean by the smell outside the English Market. When I first passed by it a couple of years back, I couldn't believe it was coming from the market. I don't think the smell is coming from the fishmonger, I think it's coming from the butchers. I used to go to the market with my mom when I was younger and never smelt anything like it. Food might be fresher than in the supermarkets, but it is not better value. It all depends if you choose quality over good price. It's also not the same shopping for one than for a whole family. I go to the Market from time to time to treat myself and the bf (love the fish from Bandon Fish to cook my paella, even though I can't get everything I need, and the olive's stand). Other think I can't understand is the poor price signs, if you go to the butchers or the fishmongers in Madrid, everything will have a price tag per kg or per piece, and with the name of what you are buying (not easy for me to know the names of some of the fish)


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## grenzgebiet (4 May 2006)

I sat upstairs in the Cafe on the balcony about two Saturdays ago. 
Had to put my hand over the coffee cup when I looked at the ceiling and saw the inches of grime hanging in the cobwebs just above ....   ugh!


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