It's been raining for two days and it's still blustery but the regulars at Midleton Farmers' Market are there from 9 a.m. - and almost sold out before noon.

The market is held on a concrete area at the end of the main street but the stall-holders try to make it more cheerful - with the canopies over their produce in danger of blowing away at times today.

There are organic fruit, vegetable and horticulture producers, the Country Markets people are there with jams and cakes, as are other home bakers.

Frank Hederman of Cobh has a wonderful selection of smoked fish; there are pâtés, chutneys, relishes, preserves and smoked bacon; bread from the Arbutus Bakery run by Declan and Patsey Ryan; and organic free-range chickens from Ballysimon Farm.

Normally, there would be some farmhouse cheesemakers, an organic salads producer and some producers of handmade chocolates but the weather seems to have deterred them.

Producers come here, as the secretary of the market Kate O'Donovan explains, because they are only allowed to sell their produce directly to consumers and not through local retail outlets.

Ms O'Donovan and her sister Ann Murphy produce marinades and relishes. Ms O'Donovan is a food consultant who works with small food companies. She says they find the whole Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, which all food producers must adhere to, a nightmare.

"I'm trying to do something realistic for them. We're going to lose a lot of our good food."

Despite the success of her own products, she says selling through retail outlets is not an option.

"We would have to to get too big to make it viable for us. Our product is good, the cost is high, so we're doing the markets."

Small food producers in Co Cork are lucky - there are several markets where they can sell their produce.

Dan Ahern of Ballysimon produces 50 organic free-range chickens a week, which he sells in Midleton and to the Ballymaloe Cookery School.

"They are reared in the fields, in an outdoor pen I move every day. There's a lot of labour involved.

"I slaughter them myself at about 80 days; it's nearly twice as long as the commercial ones. They are usually four to five pounds weight. I charge a flat price of £10 \ a bird.

"I have a nice clean environment but it wouldn't pass the regulations. I would be closed down if they came upon me. I would be slow to share facilities with anybody else because of disease and the stress for the chickens."

But Mr Ahern wants to expand his operation so he will have to look at serious investment.

"For a basic facility it would be about £50,000. You would only be allowed to have 200 birds a week in that. After that there is the EU standard and there's no difference between 200 and 250,000 a week."

Co Cork's chief veterinary officer, Mr Ger Buckley, is looking at the possibility of providing a specialised food centre in the county for up to a dozen traditional food producers.

"We're closing down some of these places - they are traditional producers doing a very good product. They would meet microbiological standards but wouldn't meet the standards for construction of the premises," he explains.

Next week, EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne responds to the points raised in the first two articles