Save money at the market

I WAS sadly disappointed to read the letter ‘Rotten deal at market’  (Rotherham Advertiser, 4 January), with the writer’s complaints about his rotten potatoes.

Potatoes have had a rough time this year with the sodden farming conditions, or the problem could have been poor storage in cold conditions anywhere along the chain from farmer to store holder. The majority of the potatoes sold on the market at this time of year are from Lincolnshire.

A couple of weeks previous to Mr David Trickett’s letter - pre-Christmas - I had thought of writing to your paper to ask the people of Rotherham to support the stallholders of Rotherham market, after one of my rare visits (sadly) to the Monday market.

I spoke at length to one of the stallholders who explained about the difficult time they are having. If people, myself included, could find the time to visit the market on a regular basis, particularly the fruit and veg stalls — but my comments do extend to other food stuffs — they could save a good deal of money and enjoy a wider variety and amount of fruit and vegetables.

My comment to the stallholder was that it was so unfair that they had to sell their produce at such a low price. My purchases also included Lincolnshire spuds, but bought at 6lbs for £1, and were excellent. I bought about 12 bananas for £1, some excellent strawberries for £1.50, 21bs of vine tomatoes for £1 — some I used for cooking and others for salads depending on their ripeness, etc.

I tend to spread my purchases amongst the stalls and certainly won't be put off by Mr Tricketts rather potentially damaging letter. Believe me, I could have written to your newspaper on at least a couple of occasions in the last year or so about Morrisons’ over-ripe tomatoes that had actually gone rotten or were only fit for cooking after three days, despite being kept in the fridge - and yes, I should have taken them back — but that would have been bizarre!  I am sorry that you had such an unfortunate experience

Mr Trickett on such an important day, but if the market could be supported in the way it deserves, then a more rapid turnover means fresher produce — we see this in many of our small local shops too.

Christine Allport, Goose Lane, Wickersley