Market Day ~ Second Market, Second Site!

Dear Neighbors,
The Interstate Farmers Market has a goal of growing to meet the needs of our North Portland Community and would like to ask for your support.  We’d like to add a Saturday farmers market that would complement our thriving Wednesday farmers market at Overlook. 

Our Wednesday location doesn’t have the capacity to support a Saturday market, so we’ve identified a potential second site, the De La Salle High School parking lot, and earned their support and enthusiasm as hosts. 

We’ve made a plan to preserve the livability of the neighborhood, and be great neighbors.  Vendors’ trucks will be parked out of the way so as not to take resident parking, damage tree branches or create an eyesore.  Traffic flow on market day will be in one direction only on Russet between Fenwick and Interstate to decrease congestion.  Customer parking will be available in the De La Salle parking lot, and the market will launch a no-car campaign to encourage and incentivize customers to walk, bike and take TriMet to the market.  Have other ideas?  Let us know!

We’re waiting to hear back from the City of Portland who needs to approve our request to hold the market at this residential zoned site.  Thank you to all those of you who have already written in with your support for this process!  We are asking for only 19 market days over the year, and promise to address your concerns and suggestions for how this can be a positive change for our customers, farmers, volunteers and neighbors.  (This is the same process that the Portland Farmers Market company had great success with for the King market in the Alberta neighborhood.) 

3 ways to give your support:

·         Email [email protected] and give us your feedback and ideas about the Lombard location.

·         Call Market Manager Lisa Bersani at 971-344-0115 and let us know what you think.

·         Spread the word!  Talk about it with your neighbors, at your kids’ school, at your place of worship, at the gym… let folks know you’d like to see a successful, independently-run farmers market in the neighborhood!

 And of course, we always need volunteers, so get in touch and let us know if you’re willing to lend a hand with any of the wide variety of tasks we’re working on!

If you want a closer, more accessible venue to shop locally, for the highest quality fresh and healthy foods, please give us your support.

If you want your dollars to stay in the community and support our economy, please give us your support.

If you’re a business owner in the area who would like to benefit from the market day phenomenon (surrounding businesses typically see a great increase in sales on days farmers markets operate), please give us your support.    

Our community is our best asset and we thank you for that! 

                                                                                         Sincerely,     

Interstate Farmers Market Community Board of Directors and Market Manager Lisa Bersani