ORGANIC PORTO

I had a dream, after staying with Mum in a little town called Tokoroa, New Zealand, halfway on a motorway between Auckland and Wellington, where trucks stop, gangs ride through and All Blacks are born. After scouring a local supermarket for organic ingredients and finding it devoid of inspiration and beauty, I found this guy called Alan in a carpark nearby selling organically grown vegetables directly from his farm. They were less expensive than the supermarket, fresh and luscious with life. He was very knowledgable about growing and gave me many tips over the following weeks for planting and controlling insects naturally. The few people I knew in Tokoroa had absolutely no idea about this man and it took me a while to realise he was there. I wondered if it would be possible to create a platform to find the most beautiful artisanal produce, or the freshest organically as a bare minimum, biodynamic, regeneratively grown vegetables wherever you were in the world. Alan gave me his number and said I could meet him on Tuesdays also if I was ever running out of vegetables. The seed of the dream though, started many years before with my love of markets. I had a job one winter in the South of France, Sanuary-sur-Mer. On weekends I would head for Aix en Provence getting up early Saturday morning, wandering down to the market in time to watch everyone set up their stalls, sitting on the edge of this in wonder sipping espresso. Later I worked in a fresh produce shop in London for a few years sourcing directly from artisan growers, regenerative, people preserving ancient farming techniques and began to learn the seasons and truly about stunning ingredients. It is the energy of the market place that captures my attention. The farmers who bring their produce directly, you can actually sense the vitality. It's so joyous and life afirming and glorious!