Gretchen Sterling

Gretchen Sterling has run Pasadena's certified farmers markets since they began: the Tuesday market at Villa Parke opened in 1980 with 17 farmers, and the Saturday market at Victory Park followed in 1984. She grew up in the Villa Parke neighborhood after her family moved to Pasadena in 1960, and helped start the markets' nonprofit association with the city's recreation department.

She adapted the markets to food assistance programs and is one of the few market managers authorized to process CalFresh benefits. She calls the growers, packers and drivers the markets' "unsung heroes" and has said the Villa Parke market "will stay open as long as I've got breath."

Markets

Villa Parke (Tuesdays) and Victory Park (Saturdays)

Since

1980

Market phone

(626) 449-0179

Pasadena Certified Farmers' Market

pasadenafarmersmarket.org