Mount Shasta Farmers Market leaders and vendors urge city support as market seeks permit and space

Nancy Swift, executive director of JEDI, which hosts the Mount Shasta Farmers Market, told the Mount Shasta City Council on Feb. 24 that the market — founded in 1999 — wants a special permit and space to expand after last year’s record season.

The market team outlined vendor and shopper data and described the market as an economic development tool. "We are really grateful to you all for letting us, be on your agenda," Swift said. She said the market ran 23 Mondays last season and that more than 100 vendors have participated historically, with over half being farmers and ranchers from Siskiyou County and sometimes neighboring counties.

The market managers and farmers described several community benefits: food access for CalFresh recipients through a market-match grant, an incubator for new food businesses, hands-on farm education for students and resilience in local food supply during events such as wildfire and pandemic disruptions. "It's a triple win," Swift said, describing incentives for EBT shoppers that stretch CalFresh dollars to benefit shoppers, farmers and the community. Market leaders reported 807 EBT transactions last year and said about a third of their regular shoppers are repeat customers.

Vendors at the podium emphasized how central the market is to their businesses. Hollis Baldwin, owner/operator of Marble Mountain Farm, said the market "currently makes up approximately 30% of our income," and that market match and food-stamp customers represented about 15–20% of sales for her farm. Ross Houston, a farmer at Marble Mountain Farm, said the market helped his operation pursue "strong locally based food systems" and credited the market with helping them reach their goals.

Vendors also described fragility and constraints. Nancy Swift and others said the market turned away vendors last season due to space limits and would welcome the council's help finding higher-visibility locations and infrastructure such as power for food trucks. "We did end up turning vendors away last year because we couldn't find a safe or tenable way to expand beyond the allotted space that we had," Swift said. Organizers said they would like to grow to roughly 60 vendor spots while committing that half remain agricultural producers.

Business owner Bill Ramshaw, whose store sits adjacent to some market locations, said he would hire a consultant to assess impacts and repeatedly asked to be consulted on siting. Several speakers — including past vendors and market founders — thanked the council for past support such as the permitting approach that allows a single market operator permit rather than individual vendor permits.

Council members and staff discussed possible expansion onto city-acquired Brownell parcels and noted constraints including power and site cleanup. City Manager Todd said the city has Prop 68 funds and other resources that could be reprogrammed to improve circulation and parking related to the market. Councilor questions also focused on how many vendors had been turned away; Swift said organizers talked to 47 vendors who wanted to participate last season but could not be accommodated.

Organizers requested a special-permit application early this year and expressed interest in partnering on a longer-term vision — including a year-round market or commercial kitchen near the market site — if the city moves forward on downtown development.

The council did not take action on the permit at the meeting; staff and market representatives agreed to follow up on site options and logistics.

The market presentation was the meeting’s longest public presentation and prompted multiple public commenters to voice support for preserving the market’s footprint and improving parking and restrooms for customers.