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Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association <br />Page 7 <br />insight into the products that farmers' markets shoppers wish to buy, the amount that they are willing to spend, <br />and the media outlets through which they had learned about the farmers' market. <br />PCFMA will utilize this information, as well as its years of experience, to target marketing and advertising <br />strategies, as well as operational strategies, for the Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market. <br />For each farmers' market it operates, PCFMA makes creative use of online media through a detailed website and <br />a subscription-only e-mail list. PCFMA's website provides detailed information about each of PCFMA's markets. <br />The e-mail newsletter alerts subscribers to upcoming market events, new products entering the market and new <br />producers serving the market. <br />The market would also feature market-based promotions that are organized and implemented by PCFMA's <br />marketing department, and that are designed to encourage repeat visits by market consumers. These promotions <br />highlight new products entering the market with discounts, recipes and nutritional information; offer educational <br />and entertaining activities for children, and help to build community within the market. <br />Market events -such as seasonal celebrations and cooking demonstrations -would help to make the market a <br />community destination. PCFMA's "Cookin' the Market" program of cooking demonstrations features local chefs, <br />farmers' market producers, and PCFMA's own in-house chef preparing simple recipes with farmers' market <br />ingredients to show consumers how quick and easy it can be to cook fresh fruits and vegetables and how delicious <br />these healthy recipes can be. The Cookin' the Market program is supported by a three-year grant from Kaiser <br />Permanente's Community Benefit program. The cooking demonstrations, as well as PCFMA's own Grill Crazy <br />summer cooking demonstrations, are not only educational and entertaining, but produce delicious free samples <br />that are proven crowd-pleasers. <br />Within the market, shoppers will find a wealth of information to help inform their shopping choices. PCFMA <br />publishes a quarterly newsletter, Market Thyrnes, which features seasonal recipes, children's activities and useful <br />articles on subjects such as food storage and nutrition. PCFMA also produces a wide range of brochures with <br />seasonal recipes and with educational information on organic farming, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and food <br />storage and safety. <br />If the proposed site on Parrott Street is selected to house the Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market, there may <br />be some additional opportunities for advertising and outreach. As the City of San Leandro pursues its plans to <br />develop East 14th Street into a public transit corridor for bus rapid transit, these new marketing opportunities will <br />emerge. A nearby BRT stop will bring hundreds of potential shoppers within walking distance of the Downtown <br />San Leandro Farmers' Market and PCFMA will work to bring them into the market through informational <br />campaigns and special promotions. PCFMA is working on similar strategies in a number of its other farmers' <br />markets in 2008 and those experiences will help to inform a successful transit-oriented campaign for the <br />Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market. <br />Partnership with Regulatory Agencies: <br />Over the past 20 years PCFMA has developed a strong working relationship with the public officials who certify <br />and inspect the Farmers' Markets, including the Alameda County Department of Agriculture and the Alameda <br />County Department of Environmental Health. PCFMA complies with the California Code of Regulations Title 3. <br />Article 6.5. Food and Agriculture Direct Marketing, which authorizes Certified Farmers' Markets in California <br />and CalCode which works to ensure public health and safety. <br />PCFMA works to ensure compliance with these regulations by all its producers as well. PCFMA adopted Rules <br />and Regulations at its inception. The PCFMA Board of Directors is responsible far an annual review of this <br />important document which is updated on a regular basis. Each producer agrees, as part of their application process <br />each year, to abide by these Rules and Regulations. PCFMA also makes its Rules and Regulations publicly <br />available through its website to inform new producers of the expectations before they enter a farmers' market. <br />PCFMA's close working relationship with regulatory agencies has allowed it to continue to operate three farmers' <br />markets in areas of Santa Clara County that are under a quarantine due to the infestation of the Mediterranean <br />