Strong Food Systems. Strong Relationships.
Our Story
Gold Country Food Hub's story began in 2019, when founder Tammi Riedl launched The Farmers Marketplace, an online community farmers market providing access to locally sourced food from a network of local farmers, ranchers and artisan food producers through weekly online ordering and pickup. Working directly with producers and customers provided firsthand experience with both the opportunities and challenges of building markets for locally produced food.
In 2021, Riedl founded a nonprofit organization with an initial vision of creating a nonprofit home for the marketplace and expanding its impact. The two organizations ultimately evolved as separate entities, allowing the nonprofit to pursue a broader food-system mission. Its first Healthy Groceries program launched in 2022, providing groceries to patients participating in local health and wellness programs serving Indigenous and Latino communities. In March 2023, the nonprofit formally became Gold Country Food Hub, reflecting the broader regional work taking shape.
In the years that followed, GCFH continued building its capacity and expanding its work, becoming a technical-assistance partner with the Southwest Regional Food Business Center and developing the Food Producer Resource Hub to strengthen producer capacity and resilience. In 2025, funding through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program supported the acquisition of refrigerated transportation, expanding GCFH's cold-chain and distribution infrastructure.
In 2026, another important piece of the original food-hub vision came into place when GCFH acquired the established Wholesale Market from The Farmers Marketplace, bringing wholesale market development, aggregation and distribution into the nonprofit. GCFH also launched the Real Food Farmers Market, creating another market channel for producers and a place for the community to gather around food, agriculture, artisans and local culture. At the same time, the Azure Community Drop transitioned from The Farmers Marketplace to GCFH, providing another way for the community to access healthy food.
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Today, Gold Country Food Hub continues to evolve through the needs, relationships and opportunities we encounter in our region. Our work is driven by the understanding that strong regional food systems are built through strong relationships. By connecting people, resources, knowledge and markets, we are building capacity in a regional food system rooted in healthy food, thriving communities and stewardship of the land.