Local authority managers have been summoned to Dublin later this month by Minister of State for Food Trevor Sargent to put in place a new nationwide strategy for the running of farmers' markets.
He said some local authorities "crucify" the markets, while others facilitate them.
"I favour the French model where local authorities are proud of their local markets and their local food, and I am hoping to work towards getting that kind of acceptance here," he said.
Mr Sargent is a strong supporter of farmers' markets, which have sprung up across the country in the past few years.
"I want to meet the managers to point out the vital role markets play in allowing the sale of local produce directly to the public," he said.
"The meeting will attempt to put some shape on what is happening in various locations with the markets, such as the services local authorities should put in place, like water services, parking and the rates the markets have to pay," he said.
"I favour the French model where local authorities are proud of their local markets and their local food and I am hoping to work towards getting that kind of acceptance here," he said.
Reflecting on the past six months in office, the Green Party Minister said he had been energised by getting into government.
"I was 15 years in politics and it was very frustrating at times. When you get into government then things become possible and that is exhilarating," he said.
"It is a most exciting time in the agriculture industry. It is a time when we are looking at the end of the era of cheap food," Mr Sargent said.
"I think we are going to have to accept that in the future we are not going to have all the food we need as in the past," he said.
Because of the changes and challenges, he has targeted the State's primary schools for a major project involving the growing of food next year.
He explained that the UN has designated 2008 as "The Year of the Potato" and he will use the occasion to facilitate the State's 4,000 primary schools in growing their own spuds this year and bringing the concept of growing food into the primary schools.
He rejected the idea that he might end up being known as "The Minister for Poreens [ small spuds]" just when he is recovering from the ribbing he received over telling the public how to cook Brussels sprouts just before Christmas.
"If the Minister for Education can be dubbed the 'minister for happiness', I can put up with anything they say," he said.
"As for the Brussels sprouts issue, I enjoyed it and thanked both Deputy Burton and Deputy Ring for bringing it up and highlighting the industry," he said.
Mr Sargent is full of praise for the Department of Agriculture, saying it is very outward looking, and his relationship with the other Ministers is very good.
But there are, he said, frustrations in the job, the main one being the fact that Ireland is far short of the 5 per cent target it set for organic output.
"We still import 70 per cent of our organic needs and that is something I am trying to address. It is a constant frustration," he said.
Another issue, he said, was the labelling of organic food.
One chain of stores, he said, placed conventional food labelled "bio" beside organic food which caused confusion about its origin.
"The sooner we get to a full EU label for organic products the better, but the problem may be that this could be a 'bio' label, which is the accepted term on the Continent," he said.
Mr Sargent is a great admirer of An Bord Bia, the Irish food board, with which he has a lot of dealings.
"They do a very good job. They are very polished and recently in Germany, I was struck by the positive way German and French people talked about our food, and that is down to its quality and the job the food board does," he said.
On the political front, Mr Sargent said that since gaining power, the Green Party has been inundated with requests for membership from the public, especially young people.
"Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Green Party on this island in 2007 was the election of Brian Wilson as a member of the Stormont Assembly, from a predominantly unionist constituency," he concluded.