Our History
Our farmers market was established to replace another nearby market that closed in 2018. Ours is also held from 10am to 2pm every Sunday “because we knew the neighborhood would support a market at that time,” says Director Shelby Wild.
Route One received its 501-c3 nonprofit status in June 2020, and will celebrate its sixth anniversary in May 2025.
Route One is proud to be the sole market between San Luis Obispo and Solvang that offers customers both EBT and Market Match.
Since its start, Route One’s incentive distribution rate has been comparable to other more-established farmers markets in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Our market currently has 14 weekly vendors, as well as additional craft vendors every second Sunday. We will offer additional specialty vendors for the upcoming holiday season.
“While we are the smallest farmers market in the region, we have a wide variety of vendors who sell all kinds of produce. In addition, the majority of our produce is grown within 40 miles of our site,” Wild says.
Meet Shelby
Shelby Wild is the Founder and Executive Director of Route One Farmers Market in Lompoc, CA. Route One is an organization that works to increase access to local food as well as address and break down barriers that exist in the local food chain.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Shelby led her market to be the first in the area to offer a produce bag for curbside contactless pickup for all customers, distributing hundreds of bags of local food to those under shelter-in-place restrictions.
Before starting Route One Farmers Market, Shelby worked for seven years as a School Garden Educator at Lompoc Unified School District.
The Founding of Route One
Route One was created through a collaborative effort with the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization (LVCHO) as an effort through the Healthy Lompoc Coalition and the Healthy Eating Active Living (“HEAL”) Advisory Cabinet. The creation of the traditional market, and now the 501c3 non-profit, was intended to fill a gap created by the lack of community access to local produce as well as lack of support advocating for sustainable access that not only supports, but helps complete our local food system.
The primary way that this founding mission is served by Route One is by providing a platform to access local food that is purchasable with any available food incentive programs. This includes but is not limited to: CalFresh EBT, WIC Farmers Market Checks, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Checks, and other purchase empowering giveaways as funding allows.