Start a neighborhood market

• A pickup spot: You host the space and each farm sells its own produce. Fastest to start. Ask your county first (questions below).
• A certified farmers' market: A county-certified market with a manager and written rules. The operator must be a certified producer, a nonprofit or a government agency.
• A hub that buys and resells (later): More earning potential and more permits. We will build tools for it after the first two work.

1. Pick a spot, a weekday and a one- or two-hour window.
2. Recruit two or three growers who will sell their own produce there.
3. Ask your county environmental health office and your city the questions below, in writing if you can.
4. List it with Host a pickup point. Growers then post their weekly harvest and neighbors reserve.

Who can run one: a certified producer, a nonprofit (with a Franchise Tax Board exemption letter or certified articles of incorporation) or a local government agency. A for-profit person who is not a certified producer cannot be the operator. A captain can partner with a nonprofit or certified producer who holds the certificate. Ask the county whether the market may pay a manager.

1. Contact your County Agricultural Commissioner. Contacts for every county: CDFA county contact list
2. Secure the site: the owner's permission, and any zoning or city approval. At least one county asks for proof before it certifies a location.
3. Name a market manager.
4. Write market rules: days, hours, fees, and how you recruit certified producers.
5. Apply for the certificate online at cfm.cdfa.ca.gov or with the paper application. Fees are set by the county: for example $270 per location in Sacramento County and $370 in San Bernardino County. A certificate lasts 12 months. One county advises applying at least two weeks before opening.
6. Run it by the rules: only producers or their representatives sell, certificates are posted, and the operator collects each producer's list of products sold within 48 hours after each market day.

Helpful pages: CDFA farmers' market program · Market manager welcome letter · San Luis Obispo County application · San Bernardino County application

State program office: 916-900-5030, cfm@cdfa.ca.gov. A mobile farmers' market is a separate registration and also needs a mobile food facility permit.

From what we found, a business that buys produce from several farms and resells it likely needs a retail food facility permit from the county environmental health office, and its suppliers must be approved sources. This is our reading, not a confirmed ruling, so ask.

1. Ask the county environmental health office which permit applies.
2. Ask an accountant about a business license and a seller's permit.
3. Get liability insurance.
4. Use paths 1 and 2 first to find your farms and your neighbors.

1. If a host only provides space and each farm sells its own whole, uncut produce there, does the host need a permit? Do the farms?
2. If a host buys whole produce from several farms and resells it for neighborhood pickup, what permit applies, and what makes a farm an approved source?
3. Does a weekly neighborhood pickup spot count as a market, and does the city also need to approve it?