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Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association . Page The design of the market for its first two seasons, with some farmers' market producers set back -to -back in the middle of the street, was intended to create a dynamic flow between the farmers' market and local businesses on Parrott Street that were open on Wednesday evenings. Unfortunately this customer flow between the farmers' market and other businesses did not develop as had been hoped, so during the most recent season, the market layout was changed so all of the farmers' market producers were set against the curb. This opened up the sight lines throughout the market and helped to increase the feeling of busy energy throughout the market. The response from the community has been evident with the number of shoppers increasing each of the past three seasons. The average number of shoppers increased 33.6% from 1,320 per week in 2008 to 1,760 in 2009. In 2010 the average weekly crowd count increased 9.2% to 1,920. • Ensuring Compliance Every certified farmers' market in the state of California is governed by a web of over - lapping regulatory. requirements. Municipalities typically have zoning and public safety oversight over the location of a market through street closure requirements and fire permits. Counties, through their Agriculture Commissioners, issue • operating permits allowing the farmers to sell and through their Environmental Health Departments, issue permits allowing other food producers to sell. Each of these county agencies also has the responsibility to make regular inspections of the market. The state of California, through the Department of Food and Agriculture, has oversight over the state's direct marketing regulations, providing a separate layer of oversight to that provided by the counties. And in rare cases, the US Department of Agriculture can become involved in cases involving quarantines that seek to minimize the impact of invasive pests such as the Mediterranean Fruit Fly or the European Grapevine Moth. PCFMA works very closely with each of these regulatory agencies and as a result, the Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market has consistently demonstrated compliance with the regulations, helping to ensure the long term sustainability of the market. In addition to ensuring compliance on a market -by -market basis, PCFMA is working statewide to ensure that • issues of compliance are addressed on -farm, long before products arrive at a farmers' market to be sold. In October 2010, the California Department of Food and Agriculture began hosting a series of "listening sessions" to elicit public comment on the state's farmers' market program. Much of the testimony has surrounded regulatory • compliance for the farmers' and the market, essentially how to best ensure that farmers are only selling products that they have grown. While much of the testimony has surrounded how to increase the state's role in enforcement, PCFMA has chosen to begin immediately to increase its own inspection and enforcement activity, • rather than waiting for the state to act. PCFNIA has set an ambitious goal in 2011 of visiting 100 of the over 350 farms that sell in its markets to create a direct connection between PCFMA's knowledge of what is happening on a farm and PCFMA's market managers who work with that farm in a market. Offering a Variety of High Quality Products In its first three years of operation the Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market has experienced consistent growth in the number of producers it serves. In 2008, the market averaged 36.75 producers per week, with a maximum of 43 producers. In 2009, the market averaged 39.84 producers per week, with a maximum of 44 producers. During the most recent season, the market averaged 41.2 producers per week, topping out at 46 • producers. The large number of producers in the market allows for there to be a wide variety of products in the market as well. For example, on July 21, 2010, the Downtown San Leandro Farmers' Market had 46 producers in the market. Of those, 17 were agricultural producers while 23 were non - agricultural producers. Of the 17 agricultural producers, four were selling certified organic products. In addition to fruits and vegetables — which included over 50 different types of fruits and vegetables — these producers also offered local honey, fresh eggs and cut flowers to fill out the market for added variety. .