Mission

Supporting small farms

Our mission is to empower California farmers to be enormously successful in Bay Area communities. You'll see us pursuing our mission every time you shop at one of our farmers' markets where local farms gather to sell their delicious products.  

Championing the San Francisco Bay Area local food movement since 1988.

Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) creates community-based food experiences throughout the San Francisco Bay Area that support California family farms and a healthy local food system.

PCFMA is a tax-exempt 501(c)5 nonprofit organization.

Pursuing our mission

Get the very best of California agriculture in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere with PCFMA. We organize over 50 weekly certified farmers' markets in more than 35 Bay Area communities. Each provides an economic outlet for Northern California family farms. Come by for a visit and get your delicious farm-fresh food direct from the people who grow it. Most of your fruits and veggies you’ll find have been picked within the last 24 hours. 

Chefs at the ready

Cookin’ The Market  chefs create tasty recipes to help you eat in season and bring live cooking demonstrations to farmers' markets and other community events. Take advantage of complimentary Chef’s Table events at our markets for one-on-one preparation tips.

Food education

Our sister organization Fresh Approach does a phenomenal job bringing nutrition education classes and resources on health and sustainability into Bay Area communities and schools. Working together with Fresh Approach helps make the healthiest, freshest fruits and vegetables accessible to everyone in the Bay Area.

Supporting our farmers

PCFMA creates economic opportunities through thriving certified farmers’ markets. Selling directly to consumers rather than wholesalers, middlemen or processors is good for local farmers, too. They retain a larger percentage of income, helping the farm remain viable. PCFMA works exclusively with California farmers and only California-grown products are sold at our Certified Farmers’ Markets.

We’re also happy to help our growers and non-agricultural producers take advantage of other opportunities to sell their product directly to consumers, including larger scale buyers such as restaurants and institutions.

In addition, PCFMA helps its sister organization, Fresh Approach, to source from PCFMA farmers' market producers for their famers' market on wheels, Freshest Cargo, which drives into underserved communities, making local food more accessible.

Our story

Founded in 1988, PCFMA is the largest organization of its kind on the West Coast and oldest in the country. A few of the milestones that helped us get here:

Timeline

1988 PCFMA Emeryville opens, one of the first public farmers’ markets in the United States

1989 PCFMA expands to Danville and Oakland's Jack London Square

1993 PCFMA opens a farmers' market in downtown San Jose, its first farmers' market in Santa Clara County.

1997 PCFMA opens a Thursday night market in Concord's Todos Santos Plaza, bringing new vitality to this downtown location.

1999 PCFMA expands to Solano County, operating a farmers' market in downtown Vallejo.

2003 Kaiser Permanente partners with PCFMA for one of the first hospital-based farmers’ markets at Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland Medical Center

2006 PCFMA receives a grant from the USDA through its Farmers' Market Promotion Program, one of only 20 organization nationwide selected

2008 Fresh Approach established as a 501(c)3 sister organization to PCFMA, providing San Francisco Bay Area communities with health, nutrition education and access to locally-grown farm fresh food.

2009 PCFMA pilots a program to match customer's CalFresh benefits. This program grows to become known as Market Match and is replicated throughout the state.

2011 PCFMA receives its second USDA Farmers' Market Promotion Program Grant. This grant supports PCFMA to open new farmers' markets in underserved areas of San Jose.

2013 25^th anniversary celebration

Today Over 50 PCFMA Certified Farmers’ Markets in the San Francisco Bay Area