Pleasanton Farmer's Market Offers a Cornucopia of California's Best Produce

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Purchasing locally-grown produce is a great way to support your community and stay healthy. If you live in or around Pleasanton, shopping for home-grown fruits, vegetables, and other food items is as easy as visiting the Pleasanton Farmer's Market on West Angela Street in downtown Pleasanton between Main and First on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Nearly 60 vendors can be found at the Pleasanton Farmer's Market on a typical Saturday, selling everything from fruits and vegetables to bread, blended oils, fish, and cheese.

"We encourage people to buy California grown because it supports our local economy," says John Silvera, director of the Pacific Coast Farmer's Market Association.

Silvera thinks that getting to know the people who produce your food is a positive thing. "You can communicate with the person who grows your food and find out how they're producing it, or just strike up a conversation and share recipes and chat with your neighbors.

"Part of our mission statement is to take care of and provide a viable outlet for California farmers. There's a lot of specialty producers out there that may be marketing crops that you typically won't see in the grocery store."

The Pleasanton Farmer's Market has been in operation since June of 1992. Around 3,500 people visit the Market every Saturday during the summer and, because different crops come to fruition at different times of the year, the variety of produce available at the market is constantly changing. "We have apples coming from San Joaquin Valley soon. There's great apple juice out there," Silvera says. "We've got navel oranges right around the corner, coming in from down in the Fresno area. We're constantly changing with Mother Nature."

Photo: The items offered at the Farmers' Market change from season to season. (Photo courtesy Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association.)

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