Organisers of farmers markets need to encourage farmers to sell their own food rather than traders, according to Caroline Robinson, chairwoman of the Irish Food Market Traders Association.
Ms Robinson told a conference in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday that people went to markets because they wanted to buy food directly from the person who had grown or made it. Consumers wanted to be assured of where their food had come from and how it had been produced.
"Farmers need to grasp this golden opportunity because they have the potential to produce exactly what the customer wants," she said. "However, many markets in Ireland have very few actual producers selling in them, with the majority of stalls belonging to traders - not a farmer in sight.
"This is particularly a problem in Dublin and is probably due to the excessively high rents being charged by the authorities and private operators."
Ms Robinson said the smallest producers must be able to start up and operate without incurring huge costs, which would guarantee competition with better value and would give a wider variety of foods.
Éamon Ó Cuív, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, said artisan food production could become a new pillar of the rural economy.
The number of full-time farmers had fallen from 40 per cent of the working population in 1960 to 3 per cent today. "The professional pessimists see only doom and gloom in this change," he said, "but I know that we in this room recognise the new opportunities to do things differently with the same quality materials.
"Small food production, or artisan food as it is sometimes called, is not the only solution for the changed rural Ireland, but I believe that it can be a new pillar of our rural economy. However, we must all begin to see small food production more as a premium enterprise rather than just an artisan's niche if we are to embrace that opportunity," said Mr Ó Cuív.