Borough Market brings community to the neighbourhood

Professor Michael Redclift and Justin Dillon of King's College London claim that markets such as those at Borough bring the country closer to the city.

Researchers found that shoppers described Borough Market and Pimlico Market as continental and claimed that the atmosphere 'makes shopping into an occasion'.

The majority of the shoppers interviewed at two markets thought that the produce on sale was more expensive than that in supermarkets but that it was of a higher quality. Most people cited 'supporting local businesses' or 'local
communities' as among their principal reasons for supporting the markets.

"Most of those interviewed did their weekly shopping at supermarkets" said
Michael Redclift, Professor of International Environmental Policy at
King's. "But they visited the markets to buy staples such as meat, cheese,
eggs and bread.

"Despite what many people think, people don't just visit farmers' markets
for goats' cheese and sundried tomatoes." he added.

Justin Dillon, Lecturer in Science Education at King's, said: "More than
half of the shoppers mentioned environmental factors, for example 'food
miles', 'less packaging', 'fewer pesticides', 'opposition to GM' and 'support for organics' as reasons for choosing market produce over that found in supermarkets.

"But it's not just the concerns about quality that persuade people to pay more, most shoppers valued talking to traders who knew what they were selling and sampling before buying."

More than 90 interviews were carried out on two Saturdays in September by five professionally-trained researchers. Pimlico Market is a Farmers' Market and Borough Market is a retail market.