The Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market joins farmers’ markets across the country in celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week 2022. At their most recent meeting the Palm Springs City Council issued a proclamation in appreciation of the City’s farmers’ market at their last meeting, declaring August 7-13 as Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market Week.
This Saturday, August 13th there will be festivities at the Summer Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market, which is held indoors in the Palm Springs Pavilion (401 S Pavilion Way) from 8am to 1pm.
Early shoppers will receive a free mandarin orange grown by Glencairn Farm, one of the Market’s many small family farms. Kids can enjoy special activities including recycled art project kits courtesy of S.C.R.A.P. Galley, a local art and environmental education organization. The UC Master Gardener Program and Desert Compost will also be on hand to answer questions and offer advice to anyone looking to start composting or level up their home garden.
Through the uncertainty and isolation of the last few years, farmers markets have served as a vital source of community connection and stability, offering fresh food and outdoor spaces to gather when many stores’ shelves were bare. By fostering direct relationships between community members and the people who grow their food, farmers markets make our food systems more resilient and sustainable. Farmers markets also function as fun community events that enhance quality of life and promote healthy eating principles. And as a community gathering space, farmers markets are a hub for connection around shared values.
National Farmers Market Week is an annual celebration of farmers markets coordinated by the Farmers Market Coalition, a membership-based nonprofit organization that supports farmers markets nationwide through training, technical assistance, and network-building. This year, the campaign is centered around the essential role that farmers market operators play in our local food systems and in developing resilience in communities as hubs for local economies and connection.
Operated by the non-profit Palm Springs Cultural Center, the Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market opened in 2008 to be an economic platform for small-scale Southern California family farms, a source for nutritious food for residents, and a community gathering place for everyone. At the Market you’ll find a robust mix of farms and culinary small businesses selling a variety of agricultural and local artisan products, such as gourmet mushrooms, fresh flowers, pasture raised chicken, handmade toffee, and kombucha. PSCC Markets (including in the cities of La Quinta and Palm Desert, which open in October) are the only farmers markets in the Coachella Valley that accept EBT and participate in Market Match, a California nutrition incentive program that provides a dollar for dollar match, up to $15 per day, on purchases made at the farmers market with CalFresh benefits.
The Summer Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market is sponsored by the City of Palm Springs, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and Ace Hardware.
There’s so much hard work and dedication involved in running the Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market and we’re honored to have that recognized by City Council. Our community truly supports us and we couldn’t be more grateful.” said Michael Green, Executive Director of the Palm Springs Cultural Center.
