Listen up. An international magazine recently named the Portland Farmers Market the best in the entire world. That figures. Each week from March through December, the PSU Saturday Market location alone lures as many as 16,000 shoppers into the urban core. The people come, they buy local produce and artisan food, they spend money at neighboring businesses, they add vitality to the urban core in a way that really nothing else does. The Farmers Market is a zeitgeist for all Portland represents. It’s our town green, among our best amenities, our Studio 54. And PSU is but one of five weekly markets that has for 18 years granted our farmers an outlet to sell local ingredients, has given our restaurants a forum to buy them, and allowed home cooks and aspiring foodies direct access to the best local ingredients, which happen to be some of the best in the entire world. After all, this is Oregon people.

For 18 years, the Portland Farmers Market has been a lightning rod for economic development, a tiny nonprofit that has helped launched hundreds of successful businesses, restaurants, and has earned Portland praise in Gourmet (RIP), The New York Times, and The Huffington Post. For as much as it gives the city, the Portland Farmers Market is a rather small operation, one that still depends on your financial support. (Because it sure doesn’t get it from the city) So, from now until Halloween, the good folks at the market are sponsoring a fund-raising raffle to raise some cash. A measly ten dollars buys a chance to win all sorts of good prizes, not the least of which being a $50 weekly farmers market shopping spree every week for 40 weeks straight. That buys a gaggle of heirloom tomatoes, Jim Dixon olive oil, potatoes from Joseph, and fiddlehead ferns. There’s also Dave’s Killer Bread, Pine State Biscuits, Zuppa, and Two Tarts Bakery. After all, without our market, most of these businesses might not exist. To purchase, click here.