Robyn and Denis Rowe - Grand Champions at the 2010 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show

Canberra’s popular Saturday morning market, the Capital Region Farmers Market at EPIC, has successfully matched its growers with some of the best in Australia at the 2010 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show, with three of the market’s most popular stallholders, Lindsay & Edmunds, Robyn Rowe and Small Cow Farm scooping up awards.

The judges of the show have taste tested their way through 863 products and have deemed Small Cow Farm, Robyn Rowe Chocolates and Lindsay & Edmunds Chocolates worthy winners of awards in their categories.

Farmers Market Spokesperson, Tony Howard, is most proud of the wins for these market stallholders, “The Sydney Royal Show award wins give real kudos to both these small businesses and also attest to the high calibre of products on offer each week at the Capital Region Farmers Market,” said Mr Howard.

Regarded as a premium cheese producer from Robertson, Small Cow Farm won gold and silver for their Petit Vache Brie and Petie Vache Camembert respectively. They were also awarded the Australian Cheeseboard Perpetual Trophy for their Petit Vache Brie, a huge honour according to Small Cow Farm cheese makers and owners Mark and Lesley Williams.

“Winning at the Royal Sydney Show is a great honour, it was such a surprise. We were tickled to win the Cheeseboard Perpetual Trophy and to be recognised alongside the likes of King Island,” Ms Williams said.

The Royal Sydney Show gives producers the opportunity to benchmark their products against the best that the country has to offer, whilst promoting their products under the respected Sydney Royal brand.

And another Capital Region Farmers Market favourite, Robyn Rowe Chocolates from Murrumbateman won the Champion Chocolate Award for her hand made assorted chocolates, for the second year. She also took out gold in the Boxed Chocolate assortment category.

“Winning the award for the second year in a row is a great honour. It’s helped us realise that we are producing some of Australia’s best chocolate, being up against companies such as Haigh’s from South Australia and The Margret River Chocolate Company,” Ms Rowe said.

The market’s handmade organic chocolate producer Lindsay & Edmunds, were also recognised at the Sydney Royal Show, winning gold for their Organic Caramelised Chilli Macadamia in Organic Dark Chocolate, and silver for their Organic Honey-Almond Praline in Organic Belgian Milk Chocolate.

The Capital Region Farmers Market will be closed on Saturday 27 February as the Royal Canberra Show will be in full swing on 26 – 28 February at Exhibition Park. The Market will operate as normal following the show on Saturday 6 March.

The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra is a genuine farmers market with over 100 stalls offering a diverse range of fresh food and agricultural produce straight from the producer to the customer. All funds generated from the Market are fed back into regional communities and other projects chosen by the Rotary Club of Hall which founded the Market in 2004.

The Capital Region Farmers Market will host a special Slow Soup Kitchen where patrons can try soups made completely from local produce, and pay what they think it’s worth. The Slow Soup Kitchen will be onsite at the markets this Saturday 5 December as part of the inaugural Terra Madre Day celebrations.

On the twenty year anniversary of Slow Food, Canberra Slow Food people are organising the unique Slow Soup Kitchen as a reminder that people should get back to the basics, and to celebrate Terra Madre Day.

“The Capital Region Farmers Market is a perfect match for the Slow Food movement which celebrates the joy of food, the people who make and grow food, and the people that love to eat fresh local produce. We have all of those people at the markets on a regular basis,” said Peter O’Clery, Grower’s Representative for the Capital Region Farmers Markets, and long time supporter of Slow Food Canberra.

The Slow Food movement came about exactly twenty years ago when a few Italians decided that the pace of life was moving too fast and it was time to slow down and counteract the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

The inaugural worldwide Terra Madre Day will be officially marked on 10 December and celebrates locally produced food that is good, clean and fair – food that tastes good and is produced without harming the environment and taking social justice issues into consideration. It is celebrated across 150 countries by Slow Food’s 100,000 members.

“Events such as the markets’ Slow Soup Kitchen will raise attention of the importance of eating locally.

“Foods sourced from as close to home as possible is the most responsible way to live today and by purchasing directly from farmers, we know where and how our foods are produced, how far they have travelled and therefore the freshness and, at these markets, we can visually appraise the quality of all these foods and talk to the growers,” said Mr O’Clery.

Canberra’s Slow Soup Kitchen will dish up vichyssoise, beef, bean and vegetable soup, beetroot soup and pistou, all served with wood fired breads made by members and chefs using locally sourced produce generously donated by growers.

Proceeds from the Slow Food Kitchens are supporting the establishment of School Kitchen Gardens in the ACT and surrounding districts, and to raise funds for representatives to attend Terra Madre in Turin in 2010.

The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra is a genuine farmers market with over 100 stalls offering a diverse range of fresh food and agricultural produce straight from the producer to the customer. It is held every Saturday morning at Exhibition Park from 8 am to 11 am.

All funds generated from the Market are fed back into regional communities and other projects chosen by the Rotary Club of Hall which founded the Market in 2004.