Local Spotlight: Mountain View Farmers’ Market

I’m really lucky to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I can choose among four incredible farmers’ markets within a 20-mile radius on any given Sunday. Still, the one I return to time and time again is the Mountain View Farmers’ Market.

This market is HUGE and the quality, variety, and value are fantastic. Some people complain that it ought to have more hot food vendors (like at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers’ Market or the California Avenue Farmers’ Market in Palo Alto), but I come here for the meat and veggies, not a sweet crepe filled with fresh fruit and topped with powdered sugar and whipped cream. On second thought, maybe I avoid those markets to fight temptation.

My new favorite stand at the Mountain View Farmers’ Market is the Full of Life Farm stall, which is stocked with meat, meat and more meat. Full of Life’s beef is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished; its pork is pasture-raised and free-roaming; its free-range chickens and turkeys are raised on grass and clover; and its goats are free-foraging and roaming. Locavores may be a little miffed that the meat is from the farmer’s family farm all the way up in Oregon, but on the whole, I don’t have a problem with it. Everything sold here is super-tasty and Paleo-approved. As stated on Full of Life’s website, the farm’s mission is:

to produce the healthiest, most nutritious food available anywhere for those who are concerned about the food they eat and how it is raised.

Hey! That’s sounds like me! (BTW, I finally ordered a new chest freezer just to accommodate all the tasty animal parts I’m buying.)

Here are some of my other favorite stands at the Mountain View Farmers’ Market:

  • Heirloom Organic Gardens: Farmer Grant has the freshest and most diverse selection of greens and root veggies in the market.
  • Pampero Ranch: Tasty beefalo and pasture-raised chicken!
  • Mission Fresh Fish: Super-fresh fish and seafood – it’s hard to pass this stand without stocking up.
  • Kika’s Farms: Hands-down the BEST strawberries at the market.
  • Far West Fungi: Awesome selection of mushrooms – both exotic and pedestrian varieties.
  • Happy Boy Farm: Great melons, squash, and salad greens. 
  • High Ground Organics: I already get their produce in my CSA box, but I always stop by this stand to top off with more veggies.
  • Borba Farms: awesome organic vegetables – the best haricots verts, summer squash, and bell peppers.

I know I’m missing a bunch of shout-out-worthy stands. Bay Area peeps: Help me out – what are your favorite stands?

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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