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4worldlovers: Want to know what’s cooking at the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets? Sign up for our biweekly newsletter, Ripe Now! to find market updates as well as tips on what’s in season and how to cook it!

The Ecology Center Farmers’ Markets are open-air marketplaces where California farmers bring fresh, locally-grown produce and farm-processed foods to sell directly to consumers. Our markets feature fruits, vegetables, nuts, baked goods, jams and preserves, juices, olive oils, meat, cheese, prepared foods, nursery plants, and flowers. We are committed to supporting small-scale farmers who practice sustainable agriculture. In addition, we always accept CalFresh EBT and WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks, and offer Market Match at each of our markets.

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Why should I shop at a Farmers’ Market when my supermarket sells organic, and sometimes even local food?

While some grocery stores do carry a small number of local and organic products, most cannot equal farmers markets in the variety and quality of local foods, let alone guarantee farmers a fair price. In 2017, American farmers receive only 17.4 cents of every dollar American’s spent on food. At farmers markets, farmers head home with upwards of 90 cents on the dollar. Shopping at a farmers market is also a wholly unique experience where farmers and shoppers get to know each other, do business, and help each other. Meeting friends and neighbors at the farmers market while shopping and supporting local businesses is just fun. When was the last time you told your friends to meet you in the aisle of a grocery store?

How does shopping at a farmers market help my local economy?

Farmers markets generate business, and business creates jobs. A 2011 Economic Research Service report found that fruit and vegetable farms selling into local and regional markets employ 13 full-time workers per $1 million in revenue earned. Comparatively, fruit and vegetable farms that are not selling locally employed only three full-time workers per $1 million in revenue.

Farmers markets also bring business to neighboring stores and communities where the market is located. Spending money at farmers markets keeps your money in circulation within the local community, preserving and creating local jobs. A 2010 study of the Easton Farmers Market in Pennsylvania, for example, found that 70% of farmers market customers are also shopping at downtown businesses, spending up to an extra $26,000 each week. This is very different from many major grocery stores where a large percentage of sales leave the community, and possibly even the state or the region. A Virginia Cooperative Extension report showed if households in Southern Virginia spent 15 percent of their weekly food budget on locally grown food products, $90 million in new farm income would be created for the region.

STAY INFORMED! Get RIPE NOW! our e-newsletter & stay up to speed with market changes, products, and vendors.

WE ARE SEEKING VOLUNTEERS! We need volunteers to make every market happen. If you are healthy, not in the high risk category, and not living with high risk people, please consider volunteering at our three weekly farmers’ markets. See details on opportunities and submit application here.

PLEASE DONATE! Your contributions make the farmers’ market possible. Type “farmers’ market” in the Notes so we know it’s for the farmers’ market program. Donate today.

4worldlovers: Perfect Edge Cutlery : Mobile Knife Sharpening: Attends every 2nd + 4th Sunday each month. EXCEPT November & December holiday months are subject to change. Check their website to confirm.


North Oakland DMV 5300 Claremont Ave, Oakland, CA 94618. Adjacent to Frog Park.