Public Markets

Austin Farmers Market

Austin recently was named one of the Top 10 most “green” cities in the country by The Green Guide for its clean air, environmentally friendly buildings, parks and community gardens. The city’s farmers markets contribute to this “green” culture. The Austin Farmers Market operates twice a week, Saturdays mornings and Wednesday afternoons. Saturday is the main event averaging 50 vendors and serving over 900 customers. The Saturday market is located at a park once home to the city’s original Spanish Mercado and three years ago returned to its rightful historical place as Austin Market’s home.

Positive local partnerships and innovative use of urban space have allowed the Saturday market to support opening a Wednesday market this year. The Wednesday farmers market is smaller and serves the long-time resident, lower- and mid-income community and the nearby afterwork downtown office customers. The challenge is making the Wednesday market sustainable, integrating it into the local neighborhood and using the experience to open other markets in underserved Austin communities in the future. Cities with one strong market can potentially anchor other smaller markets.

The Saturday market is located next to the Austin Museum of Art which allows the use of their parking lot for customers and farm trucks. Additionally, there is a civic parking lot nearby which the state lends the market for free with an impressive 700 parking spots.


Also noteworthy is Austin’s farm-to-school related program. The local Garza High School houses a vibrant herb garden. The students involved have a stall at the Saturday market where they sell their herbs. The money they earn goes back into sustaining the garden and helps pay for the business and horticulture training the kids undergo.


All the vendors at both markets take WIC and the markets’ sponsoring organization, the Sustainable Food Center, organizes entrepreneurial trainings and farmer marketing workshops throughout Texas.