Portland Farmers Market Market Policies

Part of what makes Portland Farmers Market (PFM) unique and successful is that they also serve as community gathering places and sources of education about the local food movement.

The following information concerns our market policies, including community partnerships, pets at the market, on-site issues, and operations:

Music Buskers

Busking is permitted at PSU Farmers Market on a case-by-case basis.
Buskers must check in at the market information booth before performing and wait for the Market Manager, who will assign them an area if available.
After one hour, they are asked to move to a new location.
For more information, please read our 2024 Busker Agreement.

Peddlers

Peddlers selling art, food, merchandise, etc. cannot set up within the market or ten feet of its perimeter.

Community Booths

PFM proudly offers booth space at our three neighborhood markets (King, Kenton and Lents International Farmers Markets) to non-profit or community-serving groups and organizations to engage with shoppers and provide information about their work to improve the community.

Read more about our Community Booth offering here.

Pets

At PFM’s two busy downtown markets (Saturdays at PSU and Wednesdays at Shemanski Park), we ask that pet owners keep their pets away from market vendors and shopper walkways.

Pet owners must abide by the following rules to make their pet’s visit to the market a good experience for everyone:

Pets must be kept on a short leash.
Pets must always be controlled and by the owner’s side at all times.
Keep pets away from produce, plants, and other food products.
Pets must be friendly with other animals and children to earn the right to be at the market.
Be considerate—not everyone loves pets, and some shoppers are allergic to animals.
Owners must clean up after their pets!

PFM management reserves the right to request owners remove pets from the market.

Gleaners

PFM works with local social service agencies to establish the gleaning of food contributions at the end of each market day. These agencies are an excellent resource for distributing your unsold product to the local community in need.

Many of our farms donate to Urban Gleaners. This local non-profit efficiently distributes unsold produce and other products to the local community through emergency food relief agencies and food-to-school programs.
Donation receipts are available directly from gleaners on request. Gleaners generally arrive at the market during the last hour and check in with vendors to find out if there are any donations for the day.
If you have produce and/or products to donate, call 503-226-8061 to schedule a pickup at the end of a market.

Gross Sales Reporting

PFM recognizes the sensitivity around gross sales reporting by vendors but believes compiling market sales statistics is essential to the market’s financial management and efficient operation.

PFM requests vendors a submit completed gross sales forms by product.

To maintain the highest vendor confidentiality, the PFM staff follows these procedures:

Forms are collected each week for the previous week to avoid requiring vendors to tally sales at the market.
Forms may be submitted anonymously.
Forms are collected in a closed container.
Only the Market Manager, Operations Director or Executive Director are privy to the original forms and cannot discuss the sales tallies for individual vendors.
Category for each market day attended and to represent themselves with honesty and integrity.
Raw data is incorporated into a spreadsheet by category grouping, not vendor name.
Forms are destroyed after they are compiled into a spreadsheet.

Signature Gatherers

PFM sites that operate as a licensee of the City of Portland recognize the injunction entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in the case of Gathright vs. the City of Portland that limits PFM’s authority to control the activities of members of the public attending the market. The text of this decision is available for review at the PFM information booth.

Market Policies For Vendors