Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: sales of prepackaged food items in farmers markets

Farmers' markets that serve more than one producer musr adopt written rules and procedures and must administer them in a fair, non-discriminatory and equitable manner. See Food & Agriculture Code sections 47004 and 47004.1. However, I cannot say for sure that the practice you describe either violates or does not violate these provisions of law, which are pretty broad and general. The market may have a sound and reasonable objective in promulgating its policy on multiple vendors of the same prepackaged item, especially if the item is not produce of the seller's own farm but instead comes to the seller via commercial production and distribution channels.

There are also detailed rules and regulations for the operation of a certified farmers' market in the California Code of Regulations, also known as the California Administrative Code. See, for example, 3 AdC. 1392.6 (section 1392.6 of volume 3 of the Administrative Code, which should be available on line). Searching through the entire Admin. Code is beyond what I can do for a LawGuru response, but in skimming it, I get the idea that a farmers' market can adopt and enforce pretty limiting rules about sales by parties who are not certified producers, i.e., who do not grow the stuff they sell themselves and have a County Ag Commissioner certification to prove it.

You might want to ask the management of the market if they can explain why they feel their practice is consistent with the F&A Code - and see if the response makes any sense. Perhaps there has been a court decision exactly on point where the practice was approved (or disapproved).