A customer picks fruit while shopping at the Plaza Azul Farmers Market at San Jose City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in San Jose, Calif. The market features local vendors selling various items including art, clothes, snacks and fruits. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
A new year-round indoor farmers market is coming to Morgan Hill — the first of its kind in Santa Clara County.
The Fattoria Public Market, which is planned to open in 2026, will be the first of its kind in the county and provide a hub for agriculture, food, beverage, and education while offering economic opportunity to small farmers throughout the region.
The proposed project will be housed on more than 25 acres of agricultural land just south of Morgan Hill off Highway 101, and will feature a 40,000 sq.-ft indoor facility that will allow farmers to sell directly to consumers year-round, seven days a week.
It will also include a beer and wine garden where local wineries and breweries can sell their wares, as well as a distribution and processing facility that will enable smaller farmers to band together to sell their produce to large-scale buyers. All of this will be surrounded by a functioning farm that will provide food for a tasting room on site and serve as an educational hub for environmentally sustainable agriculture.
“(This project) will create an agricultural ecosystem unlike anything seen in California … and will serve as a catalyst for young farm entrepreneurs to have a physical location to form, grow, and expand their business,” said Nick Gaish, president of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, at a city council meeting on Nov. 12, at which the proposal was unanimously approved.
The idea for the project came after the city called for proposals to preserve the parcel of agricultural land for which the market is planned, while supporting agrotourism. Joe Raineri, who co-owns a farm called Terra Amico that specializes in heirloom tomatoes, proposed a place that would support small farmers in the region by providing affordable space to sell their products directly to consumers.
In an interview, Raineri said this model allows sellers to keep 80% or more of revenue from sales, something that he sees as a key way to support local agriculture.
“Being able to survive in Silicon Valley is not an easy task, especially if you’re a farmer,” he said. “So, really, (Fattoria) is a way to help food producers not just survive, but thrive.”
“Fattoria Public Market will blend various agricultural experiences under one roof, not to mention combining educational and tourism components as well. The council saw this opportunity as (a) win for everyone,” said Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner in a press release.
Despite clearing city approval, Fattoria still needs to secure funding and finalize their contract with the city before it can come to fruition. The project is set to begin construction in late 2025 and open doors in fall of 2026.
Originally published at Luis Melecio-Zambrano