Pescadero Grown! Farmers' Markets

PESCADERO- Luscious strawberries. Enormous onions. Baskets of kale. Goat cheese and grass-fed beef. On May 3, these mouth-watering delights drew local shoppers to the seasonal debut of Pescadero Grown!, Puente's popular local farmers' market. Nearly 200 locals, young and old, came to celebrate this special rite of spring and dance to the festive music of Mi Tierra Linda, a seven-piece mariachi band. The Pescadero market features food picked, caught or raised within the South Coast of San Mateo as well as fresh fish from Princetown Harbor. "You don't find any better food anywhere. The difference between having it picked in Pescadero and buying it somewhere else the next day is astounding," said Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel. To help fill the gap and get more farm-direct produce into the hands of low-income neighbors, Puente and its many community partners created Friends of Pescadero Grown! a wooden token-based matching program for recipients of CalFresh and WIC, as well as other low-income participants living in Pescadero, La Honda, Loma Mar, and San Gregorio. For the first time this year, low-income shoppers are not only able to redeem their CalFresh and WIC Program benefits at the Pescadero and La Honda markets, they can enroll in the CalFresh (food stamps) program while shopping. The market match program is sponsored by Friends of Pescadero Grown, San Mateo County Human Services Agency, Get Healthy San Mateo and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Puente and its local partners look forward to a long growing season. The Pescadero Farmers' Market will occur on Thursdays through November from 3-7 p.m. at 251 Stage Road. The La Honda Farmers' Market debuts May 8 and will occur on Tuesdays at the same time, at 8875 La Honda Road near the fire station. Visit www.PescaderoGrown.com for the latest market news.