Prescott Farmers Market (PFM) will celebrate its 25th birthday during National Farmers Market Week next week, August 8 – 13, 2022. The market on August 13 is a particularly special event as PFM will celebrate its 25th birthday with many fun activities including live music , thank-you notes for vendors, a scavenger hunt, photo props, and a birthday cake made by Chef Cassandra Hankison, co-owner of BiGA!

Photo by Carmen Cartterfield (provided by Prescott Farmers Market)

PFM encourages people to attend the August 13 market to celebrate National Farmers Market Week alongside the people who make the market possible. National Farmers Market Week is an annual celebration of farmers’ markets declared by the US Department of Agriculture. 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.

The Prescott Farmers Market began on August 9, 1997, with just a few farmers and now, 25 years later, hosts more than 50 vendors selling a wide variety of products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, grass-fed beef, chicken and eggs. Marketgoers enjoy ready-to-eat foods like sourdough bread, bagels, baked goods, quiche, tamales, street tacos, samosas, soups, and Lebanese cuisine, plus coffee, kombucha, and aguas frescas.

Photo by Carmen Cartterfield (provided by Prescott Farmers Market)

Customers can also find an assortment of soaps, lotions, and other body care products. Prescott Farmers Market operates a producer-only farmers market, meaning every item sold is either grown or produced by the seller using Arizona-grown ingredients. The majority of products come from farmers and ranchers in Yavapai County.

PFM hosts the market every Saturday from 7:30 am to 12:00 pm at 900 Iron Springs Road in the overflow parking lot at Dignity Health-YRMC. August is always an exciting time of year as farmers bring many summer seasonal fruits and vegetables, including squash, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, fresh garbanzo beans, green beans, corn, cabbage, and blackberries.

Customers can swipe their debit, credit, or SNAP/EBT cards to receive tokens at the Information Booth. The Double Up Food Bucks Arizona program allows customers to DOUBLE their SNAP benefits at the market for fresh fruits and vegetables and garden starts. All vendors accept cash. Participants of the WIC and CSFP programs are eligible to receive $30 and $50, respectively, in Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons for immediate use at PFM. Coupons must be used on Arizona-grown fresh fruits and vegetables.

Photo by Carmen Cartterfield (provided by Prescott Farmers Market)

In the fall, PFM looks forward to hosting Chef in Action on the second Saturday of the month, a monthly Kids’ Craft Booth and a Community Seed Exchange. All PFM events, including a vendor roster for each market day (subject to change), are listed on the event calendar.

PFM also serves as a food scrap drop site for the Prescott Community Compost Program. Citizens can deposit fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps to be composted. Marketgoers can see the Feed Your Neighbors program in action most Saturdays too as volunteers gather orders from farmers and vendors to help fight food insecurity in our community.

Pets are not allowed at the market. ADA service animals specifically trained to aid a person with a disability are welcome.

As a vital part of the economy, the mission of Prescott Farmers Market is to support and expand local agriculture, cultivate a healthy community and increase access to affordable local food. PFM is a nonprofit organization and a Qualifying Charitable Tax Credit Organization with the State of Arizona.

For more information, visit www.prescottfarmersmarket.org or call 928-713-1227.

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