Kent-born superchef Michel Roux Jr has officially opened the county’s first Farmers’ Market Month.

Throughout the rest of June, markets will be celebrating the food produced by the more than 500 local farmers and specialist food producers who sell through the 48 markets across Kent, with many holding special events.

In Gravesend the fare of local delicacies will be on sale at the junction of Windmill Street and New Road Friday, June 13, between 10am and 2pm. Spread the joy over two weekends and save a visit to the farmers’ market in Dartford High Street next Friday, June 20, from 10am to 2pm, or to the one in West Malling in the High Street from 9.30am to 1.30pm on Sunday, June 22.

Kent Farmers’ Market Association patron Michel Roux Jr spent his early years in Shipbourne, near Sevenoaks, where his father, Albert Roux, worked as a private chef for the Cazalet family of the Fairlawne Estate. His earliest food memories are the smells of the Fairlawne kitchen – pastry, sugar caramelising and stews – where he played under the table while his father and mother Monique prepared the meals.

The Michelin-starred chef has been a judge and presenter on the BBC’s popular prime time show, MasterChef: The Professionals and was a presenter on all three series of Great British Food Revival.

He said at the launch of Kent Farmers’ Market Month: “You can ask the producer what’s special about their products. ‘How have the vegetables been grown, or the animals raised?’ ‘ What’s in the sausages, how fresh is this fish?’ In having these sort of conversations, shoppers develop a trusting relationship with the stallholders they get to know personally.”