Mission & History
our mission
The Carrboro Farmers' Market aims to create and sustain a vibrant and innovative market that supports our local farmers and artisans, while extending the benefits of local food to the greater community. To honor the rich heritage of the Market, we seek to work with our:
Members: to provide the best venue and support to nurture and maintain healthy sustainable farms and artisan-based businesses
Customers: to provide access to the highest quality fresh local food in an environment that fosters the relationship between farmer, artisans, and customers
Community: to expand the reach of the Market and create a strong local food ethic for our community.
The Carrboro Farmers' Market celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2024. The Market is comprised of over 75 Market members who sell their locally produced goods each week directly to Market shoppers. Located in the Carrboro Town Commons on 301 West Main Street, vendors sell a wide selection of the highest quality locally grown produce, pasture raised meats, eggs, cheeses, breads, pastries, woodwork, metalwork, pottery, woven rugs, baskets, and much more.
All of the goods sold were produced within 50 miles of the Market, and the farmers and artisans themselves run the Market. It is truly as local as it gets. The market is nationally recognized and home to many of the the most talented growers and artisans in the region.
We are open Saturdays year-round and Wednesday seasonally.
The Market accepts cash, and many vendors also accept credit card for larger purchases. We also have an ATM on-site for your convenience. Partial proceeds from the ATM surcharge benefit the Market's food outreach programs!
We also accept EBT! SNAP/EBT shoppers can swipe their card at the Market’s Information Tent to purchase "Market Bucks" that can be used on eligible goods with Market vendors. We match SNAP/EBT purchases dollar-for-dollar!
our history
By Kelly Clark, Market Community Advisory Board Member, and Erin Jobe, Former Market Manager
The Carrboro Farmers’ Markets are operated by The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Farmers’ Market, Incorporated. Prior to 1977, there had been a series of markets in the Chapel Hill area, which were run informally by a group of area farmers. The move to Carrboro began in 1977 with two simultaneous events.
First, a project was under development by a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, called the North Carolina Agricultural Marketing Project. The project’s goal was to provide an outlet for local farmers to sell their produce on a regular basis while providing townspeople greater access to high quality fresh produce.
Second, the town of Carrboro was investigating ways to assure that the downtown area remained an active and vibrant part of the community. In an effort to meet this goal, the town successfully sought funding from the NC General Assembly to build a shelter for a farmers’ market. The university project helped the farmers formalize an organizational structure, and the town selected The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Farmers’ Market to run a market under the new shelter on Roberson Street on land leased from Carr Mill Mall.
The Market grew steadily from 1978 to 1989. Starting with barely 20 vendors in 1978, the number had increased to 50 by the mid 80s, and 90 vendors were selling, over the course of a market year by 1989. This also marked the year that the lease on the Carr Mill Mall space expired. The Market needed a new home, and the town did not want the Market to leave Carrboro. An agricultural grant was sought to build new shelters and complete necessary site improvements at the Carrboro Town Commons, a recreational area under development adjacent to Town Hall. In 1993 the grant was approved, and in 1996 the Carrboro Farmers’ Market opened in its new location.
Since its inception the Market has been completely farmer run, meaning the vendors themselves govern the market membership and the rules. Additionally, all products must be produced within a strict 50 mile radius of Carrboro, by the vendors themselves, who must also live within 50 miles of Market.
The Town of Carrboro continues to be a fantastic partner and advocate for the Market. In the winter of 2017/2018, 23 years after Town Commons was first established, the Commons underwent renovations. New features include on-site restrooms, additional lighting, irrigation, new grass, a fenced-in playground and more accessible parking. The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the newly renovated Town Commons was held on Opening Day of the Carrboro Farmers' Market's 40th season.
View our visual history of the carrboro farmers’ market
learn more
Listen to oral histories from Carrboro Farmers’ Market farmers on the Town of Carrboro’s Carrboro Oral History Project, part of UNC Chapel Hill’s Southern Oral History Program (1995).
Read about the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Oral History of the Carrboro Farmers' Market (September 2011).
Watch the Chapel Hill Historical Society’s History of the Carrboro Farmers Market, a recorded presentation available on YouTube (May 2023).