These Are The 10 Best Farmers Markets In California For 2018

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Who doesn’t love a great Farmers Market?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the popularity of Farmers Markets is growing. What was once a niche shopping experience for the wealthy and ultra health conscious has become mainstream. And to appease the diverse populations that have shown interest in farmers markets, vendors have expanded their offerings. You can now get ice cream, homemade soap and even beer to go along with your organic beets and mushrooms.

And they aren’t just popular in liberal enclaves and on the west coast.

Farmers markets are booming in areas that had trouble making inroads in the past. 20 years ago, you’d never think you’d find farmers’ markets in Kansas City, Detroit or St. Louis.

Simply put, farmers markets aren’t just for farmers any more.

So, where are the best farmers’ markets in California? We’ve got the answers here. (We’ll explain our methodology below.)

These are the best California farmers markets:

Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market At The Veterans Building, Santa Rosa, CA
Sunday Civic Center Farmers Market, San Rafael, CA
Grand Lake-Oakland Farmers Market, Oakland, CA
Downtown Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Berkeley, CA
Davis Farmers Market, Davis, CA
Thursday Civic Center Farmers Market, San Rafael, CA
Atwater Village Farmers’ Market, Los Angeles, CA
Hillcrest Farmers Market And Open Air Bazaar, San Diego, CA
San Diego Little Italy Mercato, San Diego, CA
Irvine Certified Farmers’ Market, Irvine, CA

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how each market ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably live in one of these cities where things are oh-so farmers market friendly.

And after you find a great farmers market, check out the best places to live in California or the cheapest place to live in California.

How do you decide if a farmers market is awesome or not in California?

In order to rank the best farmers markets in California, we had to determine what criteria makes for a good market experience. It isn’t a stretch to assume that great farmers’ markets have a variety of options, are up to date with the latest technology, and are in areas with decent populations. Because everyone should be able to take home some homemade jam, right?

So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.

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How we crunched the numbers for the Golden State

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using Department of Agriculture data produced for the state of California, along with the government census numbers, we looked at every single farmers market in the state. We paid particular attention to:

Number of amenities
Each market’s technology improvements
Variety of items to buy
Nearby population
Number of organic vendors

We then gave each market a HomeSnacks Score. The higher the score, the better the farmer’s market ranked. What we found is there seems to be a balanced number of large farmers markets near major city centers as well as awesome farmers markets in smaller communities. That’s the way it should be!

1. Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market At The Veterans Building

Source: Public Domain

Score: 91.4
City: Santa Rosa, CA
Address: 1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Times: Wed: 9:00 AM-1:00 PM Sat: 8:30 AM-1:00 PM

Credit Cards: Y
WIC: Y
Baked Goods: Y