Village Squire, 1976-04, Page 5Covent
Garden
Market -
a place
for food
and people
who like food
Sketches by Ron Walker
You might call it a hidden treasure that
probably a lot of Londoners, let alone people
in the rest of western Ontario have never
found.
Probably people have been to the parking
lot that rises above Covent Garden Market in
London but have never visited the market
itself. But for the food lover it's a little piece
of paradise.
The name Covent Gardens summons up
thoughts of the famous English marketplace
and though it doesn't have the same fame or
even the wide publicity of markets closer to
hand such as the Kitchener market, it's still
an interesting place to visit, and a real
centrepiece for those in London area looking
for a different kind of shopping experience
from the anticeptic world of big -city
supermarkets.
Which is not to say that the market isn't
clean. The true Anglo-Saxon personality of
London is perpetuated in the market in the
regard for cleanliness and neatness. Those
who think the clutter of an old world market
place is great, will miss it in the orderly rows
of the market, but those who would rather be
certain their food is well cared for will be
regvarded.
Still, there's a good deal of colour in the
market. It's a blur of activity on a Saturday as
people of all ages, all walks of life, all races
and nationalities pick their way through the
heaps of produce, handcrafted goods etc. that
line the long aisles of the market. There is
variety there, not only in the food offered but
in the faces. It's the kind of place that makes
an artist smile. There are old, weathered
faces behind some of the counters, faces that
don't just sell food, but know from long
wearying hours in wind and sun the
intimate details of how food begins there in
the warm black earth. This isn't just a
commodity these faces are selling. It's a
product of love. For so many urban dwellers
who are so isolated from the production of
food that they think milk comes from a plastic
bag not a bag of skin, it's an educational
experience to be here rubbing shoulders with
people who really know and care about food.
The contrast with the shopping cart. wide
aisles and glass -eyed checkout girls is
extreme.
And the items on sale thernsek es. %%hat a
difference. There they are. in open sticking
cardboard cartons. fresh eggs. not only white
eggs but brown. Marr consumers probohh
didn't know brown egg esen eyisted
There are red apples green apples %ellow
VILLAGE SQUIRE.' APRIL lire. 3