14th June, 2017
At 10 o’clock this morning, the market bell rang to mark the start of trading for the first time since 3rd June. It was a poignant moment, preceded by the joining of arms and an emotional silence.
It was also an important moment: never before has the buying and selling of good food and drink in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere felt so loaded with significance. While the impact of the terror attack, and our concern for those affected, remain ever-present, Borough Market has to continue doing what it has always done: feeding the people of London.
Over the past 10 days, the togetherness and resilience of this community has shone through, with traders, customers, staff and trustees all digging deep to help however they can. On the website, you can read about Rosie Brooks, the local illustrator who has produced a whole series of Love Borough drawings. You can also discover why Gourmet Goat is currently giving away pots of koliva, a dish of wheat berries, spices and mint, and what Ted’s Veg has done with its unsold produce.
Hundreds of people from all over the world have generously donated to the Borough Market trader support fund, set up to aid those small independent businesses whose viability has been put at risk, while thousands more have been raising money for the Red Cross UK Solidarity Fund, which is providing support for victims of the attacks in both London and Manchester.
If you want to do more, you can start by doing everything you would have done on any other week: shop at the Market, eat in its restaurants, chat with its traders and customers, visit the Eighty Six List pop-up at 1 Cathedral Street, attend this week’s Demo Kitchen sessions (Luke Mackay on Thursday, Ursula Ferrigno on Friday), search the website for recipes and articles, engage through social media, think about where your food comes from and care about how it tastes. For the next two weekends, the Market will be open on Sundays, giving even more people a chance to visit. The more the merrier—and right now, a little bit of merriment will go a very long way.
For more information visit www.boroughmarket.org.uk
