0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07As another day draws to a close in the capital, the night-time world
0:00:07 > 0:00:10of London's wholesale food markets is beginning to stir.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Between them, these London institutions have been
0:00:13 > 0:00:17supplying the city with fish, meat, fruit and vegetables for centuries
0:00:17 > 0:00:20and are a rich seam in London's history.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22But how relevant are they today?
0:00:22 > 0:00:26And what will their role be in the London of tomorrow?
0:00:26 > 0:00:35This programme contains strong language
0:00:37 > 0:00:40New Spitalfields, in the East End of London,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42is Britain's largest wholesale food market.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51At midnight, 150 traders gather to buy and sell
0:00:51 > 0:00:54over 4,000 tonnes of fresh produce every night.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59It literally has been growing until four or five o'clock in the afternoon
0:00:59 > 0:01:03and it will be served up for breakfast in a West End restaurant.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05That's how efficient we can be in this business.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06It's miles more efficient than...
0:01:06 > 0:01:08what's that word we don't use in the trade?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Right, supermarkets! We don't use that word!
0:01:10 > 0:01:14You'll find every type of fruit and veg under the sun here,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18produce unheard of in Britain a generation ago.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22That's a pepino melon, you know, grows on a tree in fact.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27And people from the far corners of the world looking for a better life.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31- Listen, you're not illegal are you? - No, I'm not illegal. I'm British!
0:01:31 > 0:01:34- Oh, good. Are you?- I am British! - Show me your passport!
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Passport? Show him, then!
0:01:36 > 0:01:39When Spitalfields left its original site
0:01:39 > 0:01:45in the heart of London 21 years ago, the old market changed forever.
0:01:45 > 0:01:46New traders moved in
0:01:46 > 0:01:49to serve the growing immigrant communities of the East End,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51people for whom food had a deeper meaning.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54In this changing world, the traditional greengrocer
0:01:54 > 0:01:57is struggling to survive.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Dying industry.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Greengrocers. People who used to sell fruit and veg. No more! Finished.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07- Morning, Harry.- Hi. - How are you?- Good, thank you.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10- You been up all night counting your money?- No, no, not at all.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12- You haven't got any? - No, we're in trouble!
0:02:12 > 0:02:13THEY LAUGH
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Three quarters of a billion pounds changes hands here every year.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22But only those that are willing to adapt will survive.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Peter Thomas has worked in Spitalfields
0:02:38 > 0:02:40since he was 15 years old.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43As a boy, he'd sit alongside his dad in their lorry
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and soak up the tricks of the trade.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Nearly 40 years later, he's one of the market's most powerful buyers.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55The word is hands on. Hands on.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Having your hands wrapped right round your business like an octopus.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06That's the secret of success.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Having your hands wrapped right round the business.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Particularly now, when things are so hard.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20You can't afford to leave a stone unturned.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22All right, Dave?
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Every night, Peter will spend more than £25,000 here,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28buying for everyone from Her Majesty's Prisons,
0:03:28 > 0:03:29to schools and hospitals,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32as well as many of London's finest restaurants.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33In the run up to Christmas,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Peter is under pressure to hunt down an important order.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Do you sell long aubergines? Japanese aubergines?
0:03:39 > 0:03:41- No.- No? All right. Lovely, boy. Thank you.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43- Long aubergine?- No.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46They call them Japanese aubergines.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48It's for a special dish.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54I might have to send normal ones out, which I don't really like doing.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- Morning. You got long aubergine? - No.- No?
0:03:57 > 0:03:59- You got long aubergine?- No.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03No? Nothing? I hate not getting stuff. Drives me mad.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The customer wants it.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10I must fulfil that order, otherwise it'll drive me mad, if I don't.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Did your dad do this, Peter?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17No! All he ever done was sold potatoes, my dad.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20If somebody were to ask him for a box of cabbage, well,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22he'd think it was the end of the world!
0:04:23 > 0:04:26That's what we done, we only sold potatoes,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28to fish and chip shops and pie shops.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I mean, there come to a stage with me dad where I said,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34"Dad, we can't carry on doing this,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37"we've got to change the situation,
0:04:37 > 0:04:43"the catering business is far bigger and greater than what we're doing."
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You know, there's a big world out there.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Peter and his dad started with one wheelbarrow
0:04:49 > 0:04:50to deliver their potatoes.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53He now has a fleet of 38 lorries.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57I went to a school called Fairmead.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And it was quite a notorious, tough school, you know?
0:05:01 > 0:05:04And unfortunately I couldn't keep out of trouble.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08I was quite a good footballer and a good sportsman and all that.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Academically, I weren't that successful. I couldn't concentrate.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17So, consequently, they told me they didn't require my services,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22slightly earlier than perhaps normal kids there.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29And they did say to me, my headmaster didn't like me one bit,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33he said, "Son, you'll be in the gutter all your life."
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And it's probably the best thing that anyone's ever said to me.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39He went on to grow his family business
0:05:39 > 0:05:41into a multi-million pound fruit and veg empire.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Well, you know what I mean by Japanese, don't you?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Listen, I don't care, I don't want no excuses. You've got to get it.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48It's for a special customer
0:05:48 > 0:05:51and it's going to drive me fucking mad if you don't get it.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53I don't care if you have got to drive a half hour,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56go and drive a half hour and go and get it.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Yes, now.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Bit like fighting a war, really, all good leaders are up there
0:06:04 > 0:06:06at the front with their soldiers, you know what I mean?
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Got to be up there to lead the thing.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14All the Nelsons, all the Wellingtons. They was all there, mate.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Peter is moving with the times.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21But there are others in the market who are finding it harder
0:06:21 > 0:06:24to adapt to London's changing tastes.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Bill's family business
0:06:26 > 0:06:29has been selling traditional British vegetables,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33like turnips and celery, since the 1860s.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35But these days, business isn't booming.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41- You used to sell a lot of celery? - Yes! Celery, spring onions, radishes.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44- Lettuce.- I haven't seen much celery in the market, actually.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47No, nobody has it now. Only supermarkets.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51It's an old name, as well, Hassy, you don't see Hassy celery anymore.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56- Now nobody wants it.- Really? - Those were the days.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58It's just not fashionable anymore?
0:06:58 > 0:07:00So many things are just not fashionable anymore,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02because girls think that,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07young wives think that everything grows on trees wrapped in cellophane!
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Yeah.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Back in Bill's salad days the world was a much simpler place.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Vegetables were grown in British soil and delivered to the market.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Bill's family would then sell them on to local greengrocers,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27whose customers were traditionally British housewives.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29This business had hardly changed
0:07:29 > 0:07:32since the market first opened in 1638.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36But in the last 20 years, the rise of the supermarkets
0:07:36 > 0:07:39has put many greengrocers out of business
0:07:39 > 0:07:44and wholesalers like Bill have seen their livelihoods wither away.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50Lovely, mate. Thanks again.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Cheers, mate. See you later.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Thanks, mate.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58See, I just sold a banana, it's made me a pound.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00But it isn't enough profit.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Everybody's cutting each other's throat.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07Emin was born and raised in the East End to Turkish Cypriot parents.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09What's Red making over there?
0:08:09 > 0:08:12He left school at 16 to join the fruit and veg trade
0:08:12 > 0:08:14and now runs his own stall.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18They're crap. Absolutely soft as anything.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21But these days, he's finding the game harder than ever.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Beautiful cucumbers. I bought these two days ago, they cost me £3.80.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30- A box?- Yeah, I made four and a half quid. Which is 70p a box.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35You know, mushrooms and all, look. Mushrooms here, it's ludicrous.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39I'll make 50p to 20p a box.
0:08:41 > 0:08:4411 mushrooms.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It's a very hard life. It ain't easy.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I mean, I wouldn't let my son come into this business.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Three mushrooms a pound.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53£4.80.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55It's all built on trust,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57but I'd rather serve the little man than the big boys.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00You know what I mean?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03The big boys come in here, I won't entertain them.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06I won't.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- I don't want to sell to them. - Big boys, meaning?
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Marco! Uno.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Hello, mate. What's up?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23For some traders, the sight of Peter approaching their stand
0:09:23 > 0:09:25is cause for alarm.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27He's a master in the art of haggling
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and deploys every trick in the book to get the best price.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Never rush onto a firm, because he thinks you'll get a bit excited.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35You see, just stroll on.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Try that.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Eh? What's this? He puts potatoes in the microwave. Keeps your hands warm.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47We warm up potatoes and put them in our pocket.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Used to do it with coal years ago.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Let me have another look at that.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54How's that carpet and half of them rhythm and blues?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56What's a carpet?
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Three pounds.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Carpet is three, because years ago, if you got three years in prison,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05if you got put in prison for three years or more,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09you'd get a piece of carpet in your cell, so that's three.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Double carpet is 33.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Talking about a carpet, I've got a carpet for a pallet of that.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16- Sorry?- I've got a carpet for a pallet of that.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- Have you? - Right, have a think about it.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Listen, I tell you something, if it had been a different mark...
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- Yeah?- I'd have given you a bit more money.- But...
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- I've got it marked.- Have you? - Four-and-a-half quid.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Right. See if you can charge me on both for a pallet.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33No, I've got £5, £5.50, four-and-a-half quid.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36- Or a carpet for a pallet of that. - No. Four.- Backwards.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40- I'm going to have a look at them... - Four spelt backwards? R-O...
0:10:40 > 0:10:43- Have a think about that.- R-U-O-F. - Yeah. Find me a dollar there?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46No, honestly, seriously, they're £5, four-and-a-half quid for you.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Listen, listen.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50I don't want you to be honest and don't be serious.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55To be truthful, I'm rather busy. I could do with you...
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Fucking off? Just find me a dollar and I will.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00No, honestly, they're four-and-a-half quid, that is it.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02I just want a little bit out of that.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05It just isn't there. It's £5, plus. No. I can't do it. I can't do it.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10- You can do it.- I can't do it. Hello, pomegranates come to £7.80.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Just a tad too much money for me. Just a tad.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Listen. Honestly. They're £5, four-and-a-half to you if you like,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17- but if you don't want them... - I do want them.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I wouldn't be trying to buy them otherwise, would I?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- Four-and-a-half quid. - Just 20 pence. Just 20 pence.
0:11:22 > 0:11:23You'll get it all back next week.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25I've been selling to you for 30 years
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and I've not got it back once. They're four-and-a-half quid.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Give us two bob for a bit of luck, there you are.
0:11:30 > 0:11:31You know how much luck you've got,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34you've got more than your fair share of luck already.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35'Whatever the price I give,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37'he will try negotiate the best bargains.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:39And when you're buying 20 boxes it's nothing,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41it's two quid you're arguing about.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44But when you're buying two pallets of tomatoes,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48it's £30 you're arguing about, if it's 10p, it's £30 difference.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51So if you do that all day long, £30 here, £30 there,
0:11:51 > 0:11:57in a day you can get, maybe, £100 or £200 pounds back on your buying.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00And if you do that through the course, that's £1,000 a week.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Carpet a pallet, carpet a pallet of 'berg.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08and I'll give you your money for your tomatoes.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12- 75, 'berg.- Yeah. And a carpet a pallet, a pallet of that black box.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- No, 75 'berg at a carpet. - At a carpet, yeah.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18- And 140 tomatoes at four-and-a-half quid.- Thank you very much.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22- Thank you.- All right. That was a nice trade, wasn't it?- Lovely.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Didn't take long, did it? Done.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26That's the quickest £2,000 ever been spent.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Oi, you slippery...!
0:12:42 > 0:12:46- Who?- Yeah, you, bucking up, give us that ticket again.- I say!
0:12:46 > 0:12:49- You've got television evidence of how much he paid for that.- I say!
0:12:49 > 0:12:53- £4.50!- What have I put down? - £4.40, you slippery bastard!
0:12:53 > 0:12:55I can't believe I've done that for a minute!
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Do you know, you've got me at a terribly embarrassing situation.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- Is that right? - I've got the wrong trousers on!
0:13:01 > 0:13:04- You dodgy bastard!- I say! Let me just have a look at this.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I can't believe what you said. Well, I...
0:13:07 > 0:13:08See, that says £4.40,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and you saw about 20 minutes ago how he put £4.50.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Now you know how he gets his money, he's a dodgy bastard.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18I say! I just can't believe that for a second. Whatever made me do that?
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I must have had a lapse of memory of some sort.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Habits of a lifetime are hard to break.
0:13:24 > 0:13:25It's no good, mate!
0:13:25 > 0:13:29You're a right slippery... Slipperier than a can of eels!
0:13:29 > 0:13:31I don't know what come over me!
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Two million pounds changes hands here every night.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Everybody is looking for a way to keep one step ahead of the game.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Brian runs a fruit stall with his family in the East End of London,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51and margins are tight.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57I mean fruit is, well, not a luxury as such,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01but it's, it's something that people can do without, you know what I mean?
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Vegetables maybe they need, but things like grapes and plums
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and nectarines, it's not something that they've got to have,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09do you know what I mean?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12It's sort of a semi-luxury, isn't it?
0:14:12 > 0:14:14Something they do do without.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Nothing you can do about it.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26With express supermarkets popping up on many street corners,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Brian's traditional customers have deserted him.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39I mean I can't understand why people buy fresh produce in supermarkets.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42They don't even know what they're paying for this stuff.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Half of them haven't got a clue what they're paying for this stuff!
0:14:45 > 0:14:48They just pick it up, pay for it, and that's it.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I mean my wife, the other day, bought a bunch of spring onions in Tesco,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53it was 74 pence, I went crazy!
0:14:53 > 0:14:56I said, "We sell five bunches for a pound.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58"You're giving 74 pence for a bunch of spring onions."
0:14:58 > 0:15:00SIRENS
0:15:00 > 0:15:03There you are, fuck! Oh, fuck!
0:15:03 > 0:15:06I am bang in trouble.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10I am bang in trouble.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24- Hello, mate.- Is this your vehicle?
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Yeah, it's my vehicle. Yeah.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29That comes off, road death.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46That's it, I'm fucked, I can't go to work today now.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11I got nicked this morning.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14- For what?- Overloaded.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- How much?- A ton.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18A ton? £1,000?
0:16:19 > 0:16:22A £1,000 fine for overloading his van
0:16:22 > 0:16:26means that Brian and his family will be working all week for nothing.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Never mind. If my poor father goes skint getting fined
0:16:37 > 0:16:40I can always get a driving job as a forklift driver!
0:16:44 > 0:16:48My old man goes to work at 12 o'clock at night, 70 years of age.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51He's been doing it since he was 15.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54He's what you call a proper grafter.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Have you left the door open, lady?
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Have you left the door open? Huh?
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Brian and his son Gary have been working their stall
0:17:05 > 0:17:09in Upton Park, East London, for over 40 years.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11This is old style, an old fashioned way of shopping.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14You've got to have a sense of humour.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17That's OK, darling, I know you've given me £1.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18You are 50p in credit
0:17:18 > 0:17:21and next time you come you'll have 50p, no problem.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23No, let me have 50p!
0:17:23 > 0:17:27- Thank you, darling.- Thank you. - Upton Park, international!
0:17:27 > 0:17:30These days, it's not just apples and pears they sell.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Their customers expect more exotic fare.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38It's called dragon. It's very sweet, it's dragonfruit. It's like my wife.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40It don't look very pretty, but inside it's very sweet.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Take it and try it, if you like it you can come back.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47You don't get that in Tesco, Sainsbury's, do you? Asda. Huh?
0:17:47 > 0:17:50You don't get customer service like that, do you? You only get points.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Good luck.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Hold up, Anglo Saxons!
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Listen, I only served four last year, you're the first Anglo Saxons,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03first English people I've seen in my market this year.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Hello, pleased to meet you.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08- Oh, this year, really? - This year. I know it's only...
0:18:08 > 0:18:10- Born and bred in Bow. Bow.- Bow.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15SHOUTS IN URDU
0:18:20 > 0:18:24SHOUTING IN URDU
0:18:24 > 0:18:26That's a bit of Urdu.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30SHOUTS IN URDU
0:18:30 > 0:18:32I think we've had time to adapt.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34I think we've had 50, 60 years. Listen, even before that,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36if you can look back 150 years ago,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40we had the Jewish at Whitechapel coming in, doing all the,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44all the textiles, the materials, and all that sort of thing.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46You've got Bengalis up Brick Lane,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48we've had the Pakistanis from the late '70s,
0:18:48 > 0:18:53we've had Eastern Europeans, Kosovans, and blah, blah, blah.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56It doesn't matter where you go in the world, what country you're in,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59you do as the Romans do, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03And if they come to East London it doesn't take long for them to...
0:19:03 > 0:19:06obviously they keep their own identity and their own culture,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09but also they take a bit of ours and we take a bit of theirs,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12and we all live together and it works.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14SHOUTS IN URDU
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Pound of old, pound of old.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27London is a city built on immigration.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29For centuries, the East End has been the first port of call
0:19:29 > 0:19:31for many migrants.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Dalston bag! Dalston bag! Dalston! Dalston! Dalston! Dalston!
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Spitalfields Market is a magnet for new arrivals
0:19:42 > 0:19:45looking for work and cheap food.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48The remarkable diversity of London's population
0:19:48 > 0:19:52is mirrored in the market, its traders and the produce on sale.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57That's a kiwano, from New Zealand.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00That's a rambutan.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Yeah, that's a mangosteen.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06A salak, or snakeskin.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Don't really know what people do with them to be honest with you.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10That's a grenadino.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Years ago, they used to call it "queer gear",
0:20:13 > 0:20:14but it's not any more.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18It's everyday produce now, all this stuff. Everyday.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24When I started, 15 years before,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28there were only a few, I think 15 or 16 Asian people there.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Now I think it's the other way around!
0:20:31 > 0:20:34English people, there are 15, 16, maybe 20.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37And the rest of the whole market is occupied by Asian people.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40THEY SPEAK JAMAICAN
0:20:42 > 0:20:45'I've never had a run-in with them,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49'but I think that perhaps I'm just chicken, scared!'
0:20:49 > 0:20:51HE LAUGHS
0:20:59 > 0:21:03One of the new kings of Spitalfields is Ali Matur.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Ali is a Kurdish immigrant who arrived 20 years ago,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09just as the market moved further east.
0:21:13 > 0:21:20This is from Holland. From Egypt. From Spain. From Turkey.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24And from Israel. South Africa.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Overall we do import from 40 different countries.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30A big selection.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36I supply all the big hotels. The Hiltons, Sheratons or whatever.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And I've got customers supplying Buckingham Palace.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41We do our best.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48I've done it. Anyone can do it.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50This is a fantastic country.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53I think it's fantastic.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Ali's a good man.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Anyone can be good. Isn't it, really?
0:22:01 > 0:22:06It doesn't mean my customers are not going to pay me, I'll kill them!
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Ever since the arrival of airfreight in the 20th century,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17wholesalers like Ali import produce from every corner of the world.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25But Spitalfields was once a humble farmers' market,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28where the produce of local growers was sold.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31What's that, power steering?
0:22:32 > 0:22:37In our new, globalised world, Herman is a throwback.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41He still grows and supplies the market with the finest parsley,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43mint and courgettes money can buy.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49This is a lovely bit of English parsley here. Given by Mr Herman.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51I don't like it. I like Italian ones.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55- I tell you what's making money now - courgettes.- Yeah.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57After delivering his parsley,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Herman has strict instructions from his wife to do her shopping.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Every week he faces new challenges finding her exotic ingredients.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Have you got lemongrass? Yeah.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Lemon grassy.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Leeks from Holland.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Have you got any galangal? No galangal?
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Never ending in here! Always something.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23West Indian,
0:23:23 > 0:23:28Chinese, Kurds, Turks.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Ordinary Indians.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40They've all got their little ways.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Two of these.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47'You've got the Chinese there,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51'so that they class themselves as a superior race, you know,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54'you don't tell them what to do.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56'Otherwise they'll let you wait till next year!'
0:23:56 > 0:23:58HE LAUGHS
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Tell my boy how many you need.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03But that's the way of their culture, isn't it? That's the way they do it.
0:24:06 > 0:24:07I'm a born German.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13I had a shit time as a child over there.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I was only in the Hitler Youth for two years.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26In Nazi Germany you simply had to follow those rules.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Heil Hitler,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30every damn move you make.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Herman ran away from the Hitler Youth
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and found his way to England,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40where he volunteered for the British army.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45After the war, he built his farm in Essex
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and helped Britain to overcome her food shortage.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53He's supplied Spitalfields for over 50 years.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56But recently found it hard running the farm on his own.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Then Herman met Patty, a migrant farmer
0:25:01 > 0:25:05from the paddy fields of Thailand, who was hunting for work.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07You used to work on a rice farm?
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Yeah. Yeah. In Thailand. I come from farm life.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- Farm life, anyway? - Yeah. Yeah, really hard work.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18Brought up like that, right from the word go, they had to work.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21My mum and my dad got 13 children.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23- 13?- Yeah.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25- Wow.- I am number 12!
0:25:25 > 0:25:27SHE LAUGHS
0:25:27 > 0:25:28So you know.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Whoa! You're doing a good job, girl!
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Thank you, darling.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34HERMAN LAUGHS
0:25:34 > 0:25:39I'm nearly 80, so there isn't a lot of energy left there.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43If you want to survive you've got to hold out your hand in friendship
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and have a caring attitude towards everybody.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Because you depend on them and they depend on you.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Herman married Patty five years ago and after this parsley season
0:25:57 > 0:26:01they plan to leave England and grow bananas in Thailand.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09The market is a man's world.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11But there are a few young women
0:26:11 > 0:26:14who are braving Spitalfields every night to serve tea.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Lucy is the market's newest arrival.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27She left her home in Romania to find work in London.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31Excuse me? Hello?
0:26:31 > 0:26:36Come on, baby, come on! Yeah, who's a pussy?
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Come on!
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Yeah, they get abused here. I mean, all of them get abused.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Especially on the Kurdish firms, they get mobbed. Yeah.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Especially by him. He don't leave them alone.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57I can't, I don't, I've got my self-respect.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59I love my wife, I love my children,
0:26:59 > 0:27:04I don't hanky panky or nothing like that, you know?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07It's not for me. I'm too old, anyway.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13I learn how in what glass how many sugar.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16If it's strong or light or normal tea.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Excuse me! Excuse me!
0:27:20 > 0:27:22- Is this my tea? - Yeah, this is your tea.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25- Thank you very much darling, yeah? - You're welcome.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Drink, one tea with two sugars.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37I stay here 12 hour now, because I need money.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41And then home, eat, do shower and sleep.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44And my life is in market.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Yes, my life, it's in market.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50And I miss my mother very much.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Sugar, is that?
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Oh, I forgot two sugars. OK, I come.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Spitalfields opens its giant doors
0:28:13 > 0:28:15to anyone willing to put in the hours.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24But working every hour through the long nights
0:28:24 > 0:28:27is a challenge to even the most determined.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31It sometimes can be very, very hard.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33But that's part of the game.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35I enjoy it.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39'But I don't want my kids to come into the industry.
0:28:41 > 0:28:42'No, no.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45'It doesn't matter how much money you're earning here,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47'you're not going to enjoy it.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52'You've got to keep your eye on it all the time. Stressful.'
0:28:54 > 0:28:57So it is not an easy, easy lifestyle.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02But I didn't come from the easy life anyway.
0:29:03 > 0:29:04I come from the rough life.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Two of my cousins have been killed by the Turkish army.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15My sister's been in prison for 11 months.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19There was torturing on her.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23It doesn't matter what the...
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Even in the worst, worst scenario,
0:29:29 > 0:29:30you've got to just...
0:29:30 > 0:29:35try to fix as much as you can, to change as much as you can.
0:29:38 > 0:29:39So...
0:29:42 > 0:29:45But now we are selling tomatoes here. Huh?
0:29:48 > 0:29:51When I first came here, about 16 years ago,
0:29:51 > 0:29:58I had a very small stand and I had four, five pallets of lemons to sell.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06I think last year we done about, between 18 and 20 million last year.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15SINGING IN KURDISH
0:30:38 > 0:30:43Many of the new traders in the market have a story to tell
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and countries they cannot return to because of their religious beliefs.
0:30:54 > 0:30:55From the 19th century,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00tens of thousands of Jews have fled persecution in Eastern Europe
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and arrived at London's docks.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Many found a home in the East End
0:31:06 > 0:31:09and became regular customers in Spitalfields.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13- They're £10.80. £9.60 to you. - Huh?- £9.60 to you.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15- Yes. Yes.- Yeah.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18£8.50. £8.50 for fives.
0:31:18 > 0:31:2114!
0:31:21 > 0:31:22What's the matter with you?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25You're getting hard of hearing, you are! Eh?
0:31:27 > 0:31:28THEY LAUGH
0:31:28 > 0:31:30He's a lovely man, aren't you?
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- All the best to you.- Isn't he? - How many years we know each other?
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Oh, too many years. I knew you when you didn't shave!
0:31:37 > 0:31:38HE LAUGHS
0:31:38 > 0:31:41He's a good old man, I've known him donkey's years,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43from the old market, yeah.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45What's his story?
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Mr Khan, he doesn't talk about it very much,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51but I know that he was a Holocaust survivor.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55He was obviously a very young man then.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Joseph also survived the Second World War.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06- Give me this.- You want them ones? - I want them ones, yes.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10He's been buying from Spitalfields for more than 40 years now.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Leeks? No. Oversold sold leeks today.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Pomegranates, three pounds?
0:32:16 > 0:32:19He runs a small grocery shop in North London
0:32:19 > 0:32:22where he serves the local Hasidic community.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Every day Joseph consults the Torah
0:32:32 > 0:32:34to help guide him in life and business.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41We've lived according to this book for thousands of years.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47We lost lives, for the sake of this book.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I hope that we get some. Yes.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Joseph must obey a set of strict dietary laws
0:32:53 > 0:32:56when buying and selling fruit and vegetables.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01SPEAKING IN HEBREW
0:33:04 > 0:33:10We are not allowed to eat certain creatures. Insects.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Or flies or worms. Snakes.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17It's bad, can't, it's not allowed.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19It's against the law.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25So certain produces which are infested, like greens,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28certain lettuce, broccoli...
0:33:29 > 0:33:34..cauliflower, pineapples, same thing.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Sometimes we have to check plums,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54cut them in half and check that inside, around the pips,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57there's not any creatures.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05We have to check.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08Thank God that he's given the light
0:34:08 > 0:34:11and gives you eyes to see.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Two, two lemons.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Two lemons, and seven tomatoes.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Let me just double check that, you went without me checking yesterday.
0:34:39 > 0:34:40Check, you check it.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43I will fucking check it, I don't trust the Italians.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46The market is a broad church
0:34:46 > 0:34:49with many creeds and cultures tightly packed beneath its roof.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52But there's not much that's sacred here.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54- The best religion in the world is ours.- Roman Catholics!
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- You're poofs, all your priests are poofs!- Do whatever you want.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00- Doing the young boys, aren't they? - Do whatever you want.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02- How many priests are straight?- Yeah.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04They do young boys, cost you a fortune!
0:35:04 > 0:35:07I don't like Turks, I don't be friends with Turks.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10I don't know, there's something I don't like about them.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13- He loves me really, he loves me, loves me.- No.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16We've been good friends for 30 years, I've been to his house,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20- I've used his toilet. In the shed. - In the shed!
0:35:20 > 0:35:24In the shed. Never in the house, because they're dirty.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26He's a loyal customer, don't get me wrong,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29he comes here every day and he'll buy something.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31But if I'm too dear, he'll go somewhere else.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Even for 20 pence, he'll go for somewhere else.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37I'm sure they're Jews, not Roman Catholics.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47All these people, all they're interested in is your money.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Like thousands of Sikhs living in Britain,
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Karpal's family escaped from India
0:35:52 > 0:35:55during the violent partition of Pakistan in 1947.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59He was born in the East End, and from an early age,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Karpal's father encouraged him to be a model citizen.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05His first job, as a paperboy to the Kray brothers,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09wasn't quite what his father had in mind.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12The Krays were, in those days, in the Blind Beggar, they were.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15And we used to deliver to the Blind Beggar,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17where the Krays used to actually go in that pub.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19We used to give the paper to them.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Never asked for the money from them, because we knew who they were.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Give me one box of aubergine.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26These days, Karpal helps out at his local temple
0:36:26 > 0:36:30by securing the best deals here with donations.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34Up to 1,000 homeless people will be arriving at his temple tonight
0:36:34 > 0:36:35hoping to be fed.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41These days, too many people are starving now.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46How much is saag?
0:36:46 > 0:36:48How much for beans? Huh?
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Ooh! Bit high, innit?
0:36:51 > 0:36:55- How much are your bananas, mate? - They're plantain.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56- I'll have three.- Huh?
0:36:56 > 0:36:59- Have you got bananas? - Nah, sorry.- Oh, OK.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04I just want to check how much he's got cauliflower for.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08- Huh?- He's buying for the temple. - Oh, is he?- Yeah.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11If they've got to have cauliflower, they've got to have cauliflower.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14They'll have to put their hand in their pocket and pay for it, end of.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19At the end of the day, this food, what we're buying today,
0:37:19 > 0:37:21we buy all the time.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24It's not just today. We'll buy and give it to the temple.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27What it is, you find people, there's no work,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29they're hungry and they're homeless,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32but let them come to the temple, they can eat, and that's it.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36There's no jobs about. People are going to starve.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38You know what I mean? Homeless people.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40They're the people you've got to feed.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45I think we'll go to the next one up, yeah?
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Right, give us one cauliflower.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53A banana?
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Large one's £17.50 and the twos here, seven quid, yeah?
0:37:56 > 0:37:59- These ones?- Seven quid. - Seven quid?- Yeah.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05It's a pack of bananas, like, you know what I mean?
0:38:05 > 0:38:09You ain't going to get it any cheaper than that nowhere.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11Everybody knows that Cockney accent from fucking miles away.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14Fucking hell, he's the only one who speaks Cockney, I think!
0:38:14 > 0:38:16How much are bananas, mate?
0:38:16 > 0:38:20We're Muslims here, my friend, we don't care about the temple.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Sorry, that's eight pound now, that tomato.
0:38:22 > 0:38:23LAUGHTER
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Four quid, he charged me for it. That's a good deal, that is.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Lovely bit of tomato.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34Karpal has gone from being a Cockney rebel to a devout Sikh.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36When his father died, 17 years ago,
0:38:36 > 0:38:38he put on the turban for the first time
0:38:38 > 0:38:40and vowed to make his father proud.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43My father always said...
0:38:46 > 0:38:50.."Son, you've always got to look after other people and all.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54"Don't worry about yourself, look after everybody."
0:38:56 > 0:38:59So give a little bit of food, it does a world of good.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03God will thank me one day.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17I'm looking for something called an etrog.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I think it's sort of something like a lemon and a lime.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Very large with very pointed bits.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26For a special Jewish ceremony,
0:39:26 > 0:39:31where fruits become symbolic of states of the soul.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- Are you a religious person? - Not at all.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38I'm only invited if I can find these certain very rare fruits.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43It's the beginning of February and the market draws in people like Sue,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47who are shopping for Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Excuse me? Good morning. Do you know something called an etrog?
0:39:51 > 0:39:56- An etrog, a fruit.- An etrog?- Yeah. - I've never heard this name before.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58- Mmm?- I've never heard this name before.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01The best bet is the Chinese people, maybe they sell it.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02- Yeah.- But we don't know.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Mr Ming, I'm looking for something called an etrog,
0:40:05 > 0:40:06would you be able to help me?
0:40:07 > 0:40:11- Hedgehog?- An etrog. Not a hedgehog.- An artichoke?
0:40:11 > 0:40:15No, it's sort of, a bit like a lemon. Large.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20- Go and try JT. JT.- OK.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22- Go and try JT.- Thank you.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26You see, it's not the time of year for etrogs.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30It's got two points at either side. Or, maybe, at least one point.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32- And it's a fruit? - It's a fruit. Yeah.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36- Hard skin or soft? - Hard, like a lemon, but bigger.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39And it smells a bit like a lime, I think.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43- Are you sure it isn't a pomelo? - Mmm?- What we call a pomelo.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46- I don't know what a pomelo is. - Pomelo?- Yes.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- Oh, no. No, it's not that. - Not this?
0:40:52 > 0:40:55No. No. I know what it looks like because I've seen them.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01I'm looking for a mysterious fruit called an etrog.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It's a citrus fruit.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Etrog. Etrog.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10It's like a lemon and a lime, it's big.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14- It's not a Bangladeshi thing, is it? - No.- Are you Bangladeshi?
0:41:14 > 0:41:18- No, I'm not. I'm a Turk.- Oh, really? - No one's ever called me Bangladeshi.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20- Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. - Well, you have offended me.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Well, I didn't know! I don't mean to.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Turkey's meant to be a fantastic place.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27I listened to a radio programme with a Turkish writer last night.
0:41:27 > 0:41:28Brilliant.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34I wonder why he didn't like Bangladeshis, why he was insulted?
0:41:34 > 0:41:37People are so racist, it's natural I suppose, unfortunately.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Maybe we could get away with a large lemon?
0:41:45 > 0:41:50Could that pass as an etrog? Is it just a big lemon with a point?
0:41:50 > 0:41:54That's it, that's what the thing... It's meant to be a fragrance,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57which is probably what they'd call a spiritual fragrance,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00which puts one in mind of paradise.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Back at the temple, Karpal's bananas are about to undergo
0:42:08 > 0:42:11their own spiritual transformation.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17It'll get blessed. And when you do the pray, he's doing the pray now.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Once the prayer's done, then they get blessed.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24PRAYING
0:42:24 > 0:42:27CHANTING
0:42:30 > 0:42:33He's going to take the Holy Book out now.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36PRAYING
0:42:36 > 0:42:41Some people might think it's strange, what we're doing.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44But at the end of the day, each box of food, yeah,
0:42:44 > 0:42:45it's got a life in there.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47SINGING
0:43:01 > 0:43:04- So these are blessed bananas now? - This is blessed, it's all blessed.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08It's a lot of food, isn't it?
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Well, it is. You expect a lot of people will be coming.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16In a temple it's always been pure veg. Pure veg.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18No egg or no meat or anything like that.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21It's always done pure veg.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24And so how many people do you feed a week?
0:43:24 > 0:43:26It's uncountable, because...
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- 10,000?- More, more. - Roughly? 20,000?
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Yeah. You see coaches coming from other counties.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36This is the biggest temple in all of England.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38PRAYING
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Most people do not have a spiritual connection with food.
0:43:41 > 0:43:42You know what I mean?
0:43:49 > 0:43:53- You're very lucky because I have. - Ah!- I have, yeah.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55- This is the end of a long quest, you know?- Is it really?
0:43:55 > 0:43:57- I've been looking for it all evening.- Yeah?
0:43:58 > 0:44:01Do you know why the Jews value it so much?
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Well, they believe that it represents the human heart.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07The human heart! That's very interesting.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Some believe it represents the human heart.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Others believe it is actually the forbidden fruits
0:44:13 > 0:44:16- in the Garden of Eden, and not the apple.- Oh, interesting!
0:44:16 > 0:44:19- Yeah.- I thought it was because it smelled of paradise.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Bring out the etrog. Yay! The etrog!
0:44:27 > 0:44:29- Your etrog!- Thank you.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32People are gathering to celebrate Tu B'Shevat.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Exotic fruits are central to the ceremony.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39The etrog is meant to contain the scent of the Garden of Eden.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Smell. Do not taste the etrog, do not eat it.
0:44:43 > 0:44:44Thanks.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Mmm! That smell!
0:44:52 > 0:44:56Oh! Wonderful!
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Is it nice?
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Such a pure smell.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03I'm not good on fruit, I couldn't care less, actually.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Really? Yet here you are at a festival of fruit.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09- Hmm?- Here you are at a festival of fruit.
0:45:09 > 0:45:10I know, but it's my friend's.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Because I'm a widow, we don't get asked out often,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17so I can't afford to turn any invitation down, is the truth!
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Oh, God, please, quench with rain the dry wilderness.
0:45:21 > 0:45:27Bless the grapes, the figs and the pomegranates.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Oh, God, please raise up the imprisoned children
0:45:30 > 0:45:33and bless the walnuts, dates and apricots.
0:45:33 > 0:45:34Oh, God,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38please deliver the congregation that longs to be near you,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40and bless the berries, the pears,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44the walnuts and the citrons.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Voila.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58A nice blood orange, look.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01That's a blood orange. People don't know 'em.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04While for some, the complex flavours of the market
0:46:04 > 0:46:06are a cause for celebration,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09for others they are a threat.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12There's all our Afghan friends, look.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14One, two, three, four, five, six.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16All our Afghan friends, look, seven.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Surrounding, look, like a pack of wolves.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21London, 2012.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Like a pack of wolves,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25a pack of dogs on heat.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34It'll be in the dictionary soon.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36"Greengrocer: used to sell fruit and veg".
0:46:36 > 0:46:37HE LAUGHS
0:46:39 > 0:46:43Finished. Dying industry, like the prints, like the docks.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Greengrocers, a dying industry.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I'm 69 this month.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50I could have retired years ago.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53The reason I carry on with my son is there's no-one,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55really, to carry on with him.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59It's tough. Really, really tough. It's tough, mate.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02I mean, you're doing six days a week up here now.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04They should try to get it down to five.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06Probably be a better business.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Shut one more, shut on a Monday, say.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12And get it to a five day week. The foreigners don't want it to happen.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18Let's be honest about it, English people go to the supermarkets.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20They don't care what they pay.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23But the ethnics, they go to our stalls and shops.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27So more ethnics are better for us, really, in the long run.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30For all they talk about the immigration and that,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32I'd let 'em come in.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36He's got, he's got, look - five bullet holes he's got in him.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38One, two, three. They ran at him with a machine gun.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41- Where was that?- Erm, Walthamstow!
0:47:41 > 0:47:44THEY LAUGH
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Why did that happen?
0:47:46 > 0:47:49It was my country, had too much trouble.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51I'm from Afghanistan.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Look, three Afghans, look.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55One, two, three. Imbeciles.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59I tell you what to say.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01You don't tell me what to do, I'll tell you what to do, all right?
0:48:01 > 0:48:05You're in our country, you abide by our rules. I want them all taped up.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09There you are, see. That's what they're like. That's it.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17ISLAMIC MUSIC
0:48:17 > 0:48:20- What's that? Who's that? - It's Islamic. Islamic Masjid.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23- Is that right?- Yeah, Masjid.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27It's saying, "Our country is best, our country is".
0:48:27 > 0:48:29- Really?- Yeah.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45'It's all babble, babble, babble,
0:48:45 > 0:48:47'and just like foreign languages I hear.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49'It doesn't seem natural.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52'I'm in England, for goodness' sake,
0:48:52 > 0:48:56'but for all intents and purposes I could be in a different country.'
0:48:56 > 0:48:59CACOPHONY OF LANGUAGES
0:49:07 > 0:49:12Occasionally, cultural tensions in the market come to the surface.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Scuffle! Scuffle! Over the yam.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Every Saturday morning, many Nigerians come to Spitalfields,
0:49:22 > 0:49:23looking for fresh yams.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25It is customary to cut open the vegetable
0:49:25 > 0:49:27to check its quality before buying.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31This can sometimes lead to arguments.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34This is a bull ring, mate! A human bull ring!
0:49:34 > 0:49:37They want to pick pieces out of bottles.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39Don't say what you don't know, you wasn't there.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41You wasn't standing anywhere here!
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Guys! Guys! I know your custom. I know what you want.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48What are you trying to say? You know our custom?!
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Don't say nothing that you don't know!
0:49:52 > 0:49:54You don't have a clue. Shut up!
0:49:54 > 0:49:57- I explain it to you. I explain it to you.- Calm, calm down.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59But don't do that.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Don't do that, we just came here...
0:50:02 > 0:50:04SIREN WAILS
0:50:04 > 0:50:07Too many bad people in the world.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Just killing each other, from each country, even here.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13What for?
0:50:15 > 0:50:19'We are professional traders, we are here for money.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22'We just look at our figures, about how much money we are making.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24'Are we making any money, or not?'
0:50:26 > 0:50:29You don't think about the nationalities, about ethnics,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32about the language, about the culture.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35At the end of the day, when I see my reports,
0:50:35 > 0:50:37I say...
0:50:38 > 0:50:40..I say,
0:50:40 > 0:50:41"Hmm.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44"It's good."
0:50:50 > 0:50:53To make it here takes more than just market knowledge
0:50:53 > 0:50:55and a head for business.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Peter's need to be number one
0:50:59 > 0:51:01borders on the obsessive.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05The man's given me a job to do,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07and now it's a test whether I can do it.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10He's the executive chef at Rothschild's Bank.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12And he wants some long beans.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16And I hope I can find them, I've got a rough idea where
0:51:16 > 0:51:18I can find them, but it might take a bit of ducking and diving.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23Ever since Peter was kicked out of school,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26he has been driven to succeed, at all costs.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31'The thought of not being successful frightens me.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34'So there's a fear factor there.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38'The fear of being a failure, I could not handle that.'
0:51:40 > 0:51:43That would kill me.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48So that's why I do what I do.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05They're called "yard beans", "long beans", "long green beans".
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Long beans? I've got some there. They're lovely.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12They are lovely. I want me something a little bit longer.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14- You could stretch it. - I could stretch it?
0:52:14 > 0:52:16I've something else for you to stretch later on!
0:52:19 > 0:52:21Any long bean?
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Long bean, long Kenya bean?
0:52:26 > 0:52:29- I have beans, here. - Let me have a look.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33No, I need the long ones.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35They're a bit big, actually.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39They're a little bit big.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42- He's gone inside. - Where is he, in there?
0:52:42 > 0:52:45You don't know. You don't know where, do you?
0:52:47 > 0:52:48- How you going?- Yes?
0:52:48 > 0:52:51- I want a box of long beans. - Yes, mate.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53- You got a Thailand one?- Yeah. - Let me have a look, please.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57OK, it's over here. Hang on a minute.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09This is them.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12That's better. That's better.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14- How much would you charge me for that?- 22.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18- £22? You want £20 for two boxes? Cash?- No.
0:53:18 > 0:53:23- 21 cost.- Really? All right, give me two boxes.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25- Thank you very much. - Thank you very much.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27All right?
0:53:27 > 0:53:31- You spend £25,000 a night here? - About that.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34- And you haggle over a quid?- Yeah.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Some people think that's a bit mad.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40All adds up, doesn't it? It all adds up.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42I can't help myself.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44It's like a second nature.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Hello, Tommy. Well, it's all fell into place. I went up to Hutch,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52went bang, bang, bang. Whatever I said, he took my money.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55At one stage I thought I weren't going to get them beans.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Keep trying, never give up, and you find 'em.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05As the market winds down, Peter is one of the last to leave.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09But this commitment has come at a price.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13This is my world. This is my life.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15That's a terribly sad thing to say.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18My wife will be over the moon, me saying that(!)
0:54:20 > 0:54:24My business to me has been like another woman, I'm afraid.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27And I've probably took more care of this other woman
0:54:27 > 0:54:29than what I have of my wife.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34So I did throw body and soul into the business,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38where perhaps I should have thrown a little bit into the marriage.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Bill will have plenty of time to put into his marriage.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56Today is his last morning as the owner of his stand.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00He's been unable to adapt to Londoners' changing tastes,
0:55:00 > 0:55:04so, after a lifetime of supplying celery, he's sold his historic
0:55:04 > 0:55:08family business to newcomers - Polish mushroom importers.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11What about her?
0:55:11 > 0:55:15I'm not sure what we're doing with her.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17I'll dismantle her, take her off the wall,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19- and decide what I'm going to do with her.- Yeah.
0:55:19 > 0:55:20HE LAUGHS
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Relics from the past.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Off!
0:56:10 > 0:56:14So Bill, he's got the same office for many years.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19His office is like a part of his body, his arm, his legs,
0:56:19 > 0:56:20his brain, his heart.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25You are going to bury him in the same office when he die, anyway!
0:56:25 > 0:56:28HE LAUGHS I knew he can't live without this!
0:56:46 > 0:56:49That's the trouble of the old-fashioned people in the market.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52They need to just reorganise themselves, but they don't.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56Market is losing power.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59They used to be king, not the customer.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02Now, customers are the kings.
0:57:08 > 0:57:1221 years, it was there. 21 years!
0:57:15 > 0:57:19Some people have said it's an end of an era.
0:57:19 > 0:57:20For everyone.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29I'm just going to be a lost soul, I suppose.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36It is tough, very tough.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43You must just accept this industry as your lifestyle.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45You're part of it.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47Then, you make money.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Can local food markets break our love affair with the superstore?
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Listen to the experts, and share your views.
0:58:10 > 0:58:16Go to our website, and follow links to the Open University.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd