Panhandle Fresh Marketing Association (PFMA) began as a Florida not for profit organization in November 2007. The PFMA, a community based food system model (CBFS), is a local effort to assist farmers in pooling their resources and allowing them access to larger markets in the produce industry.

PFMA operates in the regional area including, but not limited to: Florida counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton and Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. PFMA provides producers with the following:  funding all liability insurances required by various vendors, obtaining all vendor identification numbers, coordinating each product, from each farmer, to each store, funding research at the WFREC to aid farmers in technical expertise for growing products they might not have grown in past, working with the SBDC to provide farmers the business planning assistance they may require, obtaining grants to aid in financing transitions from traditional farming to specialty crops, obtaining grants and to enhance the PFMA marketing efforts, branding PFMA, providing all bookkeeping and accounting associated with sales, providing food safety training and assistance with food safety audits, and determining how PFMA can aid our farming community to be more profitable and protect our local culture.

Mission Statement: To improve profits and sustainability of regional farmers by adding value to their product, diversifying their crop mix, and protecting their land for future generations.

Partners:

“Building community based foods systems (CBFS) using specialty crops
enhances the quality of life of citizens by positively impacting economic and
social conditions. CBFS are an alternative that promote entrepreneurial
activities by local farms, markets, and supporting businesses and empower citizens to play an active role in their community’s food supply and security.
They aid in the protection of our local rural lands and by limiting the
transportation of goods and reducing our carbon footprint. Besides that it
tastes better and has a higher nutritional value.”
-Cindy Anderson, Asst. Treasurer of PFMA and
Executive Director of TEAM Santa Rosa EDC