Farm Market and Farm Stand Guidelines from the PA Department of Agriculture

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The PA Department of Agriculture (PDA) licenses and inspects all retail food facilities in PA. PDA has created a guidebook to "help farmers, marketers and food processors prepare for and meet the regulatory requirements that come with participating in farmers markets and/or selling products through a retail farm market or farm stand."

All retail food facilities, including farm markets and farm stands, are required to be inspected and licensed. There are some exemptions though. As per the guide,

1. "A retail food facility that is exempted from the license requirements under this section shall remain subject to inspection and all other provisions of these requirements of this section subchapter.
2. A licensor shall exempt the following retail food facilities from the license
   (i) A retail food facility in which only prepackaged, non-potentially hazardous food or beverages are sold.
   (ii) A retail food facility that sells only raw agricultural commodities."

This guide is also very important for farm market vendors who wish to sell at multiple markets. This type of vendor should consider applying as a "mobile unit". A mobile unit means:

1. "Set-up and tear-down at each farmers market site must include the vendor removing all food products from the stand.
2. The actual license (not a duplicate copy) must be present in the stand when the farmers market is open. Note – this means that "Mobile Unit" vendors cannot operate multiple stands on the same day unless they have applied for and received additional licenses.
3. Where the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture does not have food safety jurisdiction, vendors should contact the county or Local Health Department."

Lastly, the guide outlines food safety and handling requirements. "Proper handling of food at farmers markets is a critical part of ensuring the safety of consumers."