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Coos Bay Farmer’s Market Guidelines
320 Central Ave Suite 410 ▪ Coos Bay OR 97420 ▪
541-266-9711
Market Manager:Sarah Crawford
Email:
The Coos Bay Farmers’ Market was founded in 2000 and is sponsored by the Coos Bay Downtown Association. The Coos Bay Downtown Association oversees the running, funding, and management of the market.
The mission of the market is to provide a venue where Oregon farmers can sell their products and produce, enhance the downtown business atmosphere, and afford Coos Bay patrons an opportunity to buy locally grown, fresh picked produce and shop local artisans in an easily accessible, historic setting.
While the market was created primarily for the sale of local, fresh Oregon grown produce and farm products, other products such as processed food, ready-to-eat foods and handmade craft items are allowed on a percentage basis in addition to produce.
No resale of purchased or wholesale items is allowed.
The Coos Bay Farmers’ Market is held on Central Avenue between Hwy 101 South (west of the Coos Bay Visitor’s Center) and to S. 4th St. in Downtown Coos Bay.
The Coos Bay Farmers’ Market is a non-smoking event. Dogs are welcome outside the market boundaries but are not permitted amongst the booths, especially not among food vendors. Please refer to:
for more info on pets in food establishments.
MARKET RULES
HOURS & DATES
The market is open each year from the first Wednesday in May to the last Wednesday in October. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Vendors must stay until the 3:00 p.m. close time, unless arrangements have been made with the market manager. Some vendors may remain at the market until 5:00 p.m. if they choose to, which is fine if notice if given to Market Manager. If we still have customers after 3:00 p.m.,vehicle traffic will not be allowed until customers clear out.
*The Sunday Public Market is open from August until October, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the North parking lot of the Coos Bay Visitor’s Center, as produce is available.
BOOTH FEES
Each booth measures approximately 10’ x 10’ and costs $25 per day. Two booths -10’x 20’- cost $50. Check with the Market Manager for prices of three or more booths or on the vendor application. Season passes are available before May 30th and paying for the whole season up front means vendors get a 20 % discount. Check with Market Manager for details or download the form from the website.
VENDOR SPACES
Each vendor is responsible for staying within their own booth lines and not expanding into surrounding spaces. During the season, adjustments to booth placements may occur to fit everyone in. Please be aware you may be asked to move over slightly or to another spot to accommodate space requirements. The Market Manager will strictly monitor booth sizes. Vendors will be expected to clean up their area before leaving each day. The market may offer booth space to non-profits to provide information to the public free of charge. Non- profits may also fundraise on a limited basis for a $15 booth fee as space allows.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
Vendors will provide a full application, signed rules agreement, copy of their insurance certificate and one photocopy of each license necessary for the kind of business they operate. This means but is not limited to: food handler’s license, approved kitchen certificates, temporary restaurant licenses etc. It is the responsibility of each vendor to research and procure his/her license(s). The market manager will require a copy of all current licenses to keep on file. Posting licenses is required.
Periodically during the season, the County or State Inspector will visit, test temperatures, check for handwashing stations and sample protocol, check scales for certification and verify credentials.
ALWAYS KEEP LICENSES AND PERMITS ON HAND.
Please refer to: and
for more info on Farmer’s Market Regulations.
Vendors may also call the numbers listed below to find out procedures for licenses:
Department of Agriculture...... 756-2911
or...... 751-9307
Health Department...... 756-2020 ext. 510 City of Coos Bay Public Works & Development...... 269-8918
Mandatory Product Guidelines
All products must be grown, produced, or collected by the owner of the business. As of 2003 the term “Organic” may not be used unless the farm has been certified “organic” by a certification organization such as Oregon Tilth or USDA. The new term “no synthetics used” or “grown naturally” replaced the general organic label. GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) accreditation is a new process, which you may be interested in. Contact the USDA if interested in any accreditation program.
Agricultural produce includes vegetables, berries and fruit, herbs, flowers, nuts, plants, eggs, honey and dairy products, some selected foods prepared only in licensed kitchens or by licensed processors such as cheeses, baked goods, packaged meats, and sausage. Keep licenses posted if certified kitchen have been used.
Agriculturally derived craft items are preferred at the market; however, the ratio of seven agricultural vendors to three total craft vendors can be maintained through the season on Wednesdays. Sundays are open to all vendors regardless of what they are selling. Total agricultural vendors (on Wednesdays) for the season must be 70%. Crafts made predominantly from agricultural or natural/raw products (wood, floral, cloth, ore, clay, glass etc.) will have priority and must be made & sourced by the vendor. The market does not offer exclusive rights to any one vendor to sell any one product. If a category is filled then a waitlist will be used at that time.
MUSHROOM SELLING AT COOS BAY FARMER’S MARKET
Potential mushroom vendors will produce the following documents: Coos County Mushroom Picker’s permit AND Certificate of Liability Insurance with additional product liability coverage BEFORE being approved to sell ANY wild mushrooms at the market. Please note* that mushroom picking permits will be required even if picker is picking on private property. Coos Bay Farmers’ Market abides by and agrees with all Coos County mushroom picking rules and guidelines. Information on permits is available from the Coos County Forestry Dept. Cultivated mushrooms can be sold at the market but approval will be given AFTER Market Manager views pictures of operation and sees sample of product to be sold and receives 2 written recommendations from prior customers. Please ask before attempting to sell mushrooms as they are a potentially hazardous food and we follow strict guidelines in order to provide a safe product for our customers. Personal reputation is also an important consideration for acceptance when selling mushrooms at the market. Trespassing to pick mushrooms to sell is obviously prohibited and will not be tolerated. This would result in immediate expulsion from market and written referral.
NO RESALE OF PACKAGED PRODUCTS PERMITTED
Artisanal food vendors are welcome, but they must have a license for their kitchen or a temporary kitchen license for on-site preparation of hot food.
Processed foods must follow the guidelines of the Oregon Department of Agriculture for cheese, sauces and condiments, baked goods, hot ready-to-eat-foods and packaged meats. An appropriate license from the appropriate home county office is required and priority will be given to those who process their own homegrown ingredients.
Processed food is defined as cooking, baking, heating, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, cutting (not to include harvest cutting), freezing or otherwise manufacturing a food or changing the physical characteristics, packaging, canning or otherwise enclosing the product in a container. It does not mean sorting, cleaning or water rinsing of produce and drying of herbs. All processed food vendors must provide a kitchen license. Foods high in acidity may be made in unlicensed kitchens if the main ingredients were grown solely by the vendor. However all products must be tested for acidity with a suitable meter and a complete and explicit log will be kept of all tests of batches with ingredients, date, place of manufacture and phone number clearly labeled on product.The words “HOMEMADE” must appear on the label also. The complete labeling instructions can be found on the ODA website:
The Farmers’ Market is for farm fresh, locally grown products and not an outlet for resale of wholesale produce.
Vendors may supplement their own products with produce grown by other farmers in Oregon as long as the product is obtained directly from the grower, the value of the produce grown by others does not exceed 25% of the value of the other items offered or displayed by market vendor for each market day. Vendors must submit a list of produce grown by other farmers with their applications or as the need arises with the market manager during the season. The name of the additional grower can be displayed and written agreements/receipts with/of other farmer to sell his product must be produced upon request.
Nursery/Plant vendors must personally propagate/grow bedding and landscape plants and flowers. This can be from seed, cuttings, bulbs, plugs, or plant divisions. The vendor must have grown all potted plants for at least two months and personally growing the plants from seed or by cuttings is preferred. Seeds to be sold must have been grown, collected and cleaned by the vendor.
All plant vendors must present a nursery license if they make more than $250 during the season per ODA rules:
Market customers generally benefit from having a choice however if the number of vendors offering the same or similar products is excessive and a new vendor cannot prove his/her product is different or worth an exception then duplicated products will be denied entry to the market.
A limited number of on-site prepared food and processed/preserved foods will be allowed. All such foods will be evaluated before they are approved for sale in the market. Approval by Market Manager will be through pictures, product samples, and references from other markets they attend or by other means. Priority will go to vendors who grow and use local market ingredients in their products.
FOOD VENDORS OR BOOTHS OFFERING SAMPLES
Overview: Food vendors or sample givers must have a hand washing station at their booth (
Samples must be pre-sliced and picked up by toothpicks (or other device), servers must wear hand protection when cutting or serving samples and sample plates must have covers to protect product and to maintain sanitation standards. Samples cut by hand and served that way cannot be allowed any longer due to Oregon Food Safety regulations.
Food Sampling Guidelines and Procedure Details
Providing samples at Farmers’ Markets allows consumers to try a product before purchasing it. This is especially important when the farmer is offering a new or different product that the customer has never tried before. Since Farmers’ Markets sell primarily on taste, sampling is a top marketing tool.
Your samples should represent your best. Samples of poor products do nothing to enhance your sales. Special care should be taken to ensure that every bite of your product that a customer receives will leave a favorable impression and encourage them to buy.
Unsafe sampling methods can contaminate food and result in food borne illness. Good marketing practices require that basic sanitation practices be followed when samples are offered at Farmers’ Markets. Following a few, simple practices can reduce your risk.
The following guidelines are designed to give vendors the basic sanitation practices for sampling at farmers markets. The vendor offering samples assumes all liability and should look carefully at every step of their sampling to make the samples as safe as possible.
If you want to offer ready to eat food service at a Farmers’ Market you must obtain a Food Handlers permit.
GUIDELINES:
MANUAL:
The Basics
This guideline cannot cover every situation and product, but in every situation you must provide equipment and maintain practices that provide for:
*Use of potable water *all ingredients coming from an approved, traceable source *clean hands *clean utensils *maintaining proper temperature *delivering the samples to the customers in such a manner to prevent anyone from touching any sample other than the one they will consume *protection of the samples from the elements and insects
Potable water
All water that touches your product or your utensils MUST be potable. That is, the water should be drinking quality. Municipal water fits this category perfectly. If you have a water source like a well or cistern then all your water should be tested and found to be free of contaminants before you use it in the preparation of samples. Bottled water is readily available and can be used for sample preparation.
All water used at the market to wash produce, utensils and clean up should be disposed of properly and not poured out on the ground.
All produce being clean
All raw produce that will be used for samples MUST be washed thoroughly with running potable water. The water has to be running to carry away any dirt or contaminants that may be on the outside of the product. You cannot wash your tomatoes in a bucket of clean water. This can be done at home to all the produce you plan to use for samples. Make sure the washed produce is then packed in clean bags or containers to keep them clean and stored separate from unwashed food items until you arrive at the market.
All ingredients coming from an approved, traceable source
All products used in your samples must come from an approved source. Locations i.e. Specific addresses where produce was grown, by whom, how it was picked, stored and transported must be provided especially if giving out samples.
Clean hands
You must have a way to wash your hands properly. Though a good addition to hand washing, hand sanitizers do not substitute for proper hand washing. Hand sanitizer does not remove soil or eliminate all contaminates. Gloves can be used but you must be careful to keep them uncontaminated.
You should wash your hands or change your gloves:
*After using the bathroom and upon returning to your stand *After handling money, unwashed produce, baskets, and anything not clean and sanitized *Any time you leave your stand and return and handle samples in any way.
Depending on the market setup, providing for hand washing may mean each vendor must have his or her own station. If vendors feel they can share a station it must be easily accessible with no physical impediments between the vendor and the station.
The basic items required for a proper hand washing station are:
*A container of potable water of sufficient size to have enough water for the entire sampling time with a free-flowing dispensing valve. The container should be raised off the ground to allow a catch basin under the spigot.
*One catch bucket for waste water that fits under the container of water’s spigot.
*Paper towels *Liquid hand washing soap in a pump or squeeze bottle.
Clean utensils
All utensils that touch a sample in any way must be washed in a detergent, rinsed in clean potable water and soaked for 60 seconds in a sanitizing solution.
*If more than one or two different utensils are used, a cleaning, rinsing and sanitizing station is required. Sanitizing solution must be approx. 50 ppm of household bleach/water solution. This is approx. one capful of bleach to one gallon of water. The sanitizing container should be of sufficient size to completely immerse the largest utensil in use.
*If you are only using a few utensils, you may choose to bring a number of the utensils in a zip lock bag marked as “CLEAN” and bring with you another zip lock bag marked “DIRTY”. That way if you drop or soil a utensil a clean one is available and the dirty one can be easily distinguished and isolated. THESE UTENSILS MUST BE SANITIZED AS WELL.
*If one of the utensils you use is a knife then you must have a proper cutting board that must be handled like any other utensil – wash, rinse, sanitized.
*Use only plastic (nonabsorbent) or approved hardwood cutting boards or disposable paper plates for cutting produce for sampling.
*If samples of both meat and vegetables are going to be cooked and offered, there should be 3 separate sets of utensils. The first is for raw meat, the second for cooked meat and the third for vegetables and fruits.
*Allow all cleaned and sanitized utensils to air dry on a clean non-porous surface or dish rack. Do not dry with a towel.
*The “washing, rinsing and sanitizing station” and the “hand washing station” must be set up before preparing any samples.
Proper temperature
*If you bring cold product to the market for sampling you must maintain them at 41°F or below. That means you probably must ice it above and below. If using ice, you need to make provisions for melted ice to drain away from the product.