FOLEY — For a decade, Foley residents and visitors have enjoyed shopping for crafts, freshly grown farm products and other locally produced items in the community's outdoor market.

The Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market celebrates its 10th anniversary in October. The covered open air marketplace is open each Saturday and has become a popular weekly attraction.

The market began in 2013. It was first funded with money from the BP oil spill settlement. The CAFFM was created as a non-profit organization that would provide a market for local farm products.

In May, 2022, the Foley Leisure Services Department brought the market under its administration where the facility has continued to grow.

Since the CAFFM began the number of vendors has grown to an active list of more than 400. The vendors provide high-quality local products such as meat, seafood, baked goods, honey and artisan crafts.

Alescia Forland, CAFFM operations manager, said the vendors are a key to the market's success.

"We have been blessed to have the most incredible vendors who create a strong sense of family every Saturday at the market," Forland said. "The vendors who have been there since day one and those who just started coming out have helped us build a community where customers become friends. They are sought out for their wares, but also the genuine interest they have in their customers' lives and families."

The customers who come out to support the vendors and the market are another reason for the CAFFM's success.

"It's exciting how over the last decade strangers have become regular, familiar faces, and then even friends," Forland said. "We see new people every week but more often than not the comradery the market provides has those newcomers returning again and again."

Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the way the market's products, people and support are a reflection of the community.

"We know how incredible our region is and CAFFM has found a successful way of sharing the area's bounty with the community," Hellmich said. "We are overjoyed with the way the market has made a name for South Baldwin County far beyond its borders. It has won national awards, grown vendors and revenue, but most importantly created an atmosphere synonymous with everything our city represents- hospitality and family."

The city is now studying plans to add a commercial-grade kitchen at the CAFFM site. The new kitchen would be about 2,500 square feet in size and could be used by local food entrepreneurs to expand their businesses to meet demands.

The CAFFM continues Foley's agricultural heritage that dates back to the community's founding at the beginning of the 20th century. Foley's first railroad terminal opened in 1905. The station allowed farming to expand by providing a way to ship crops, such as potatoes, to outside markets.

The Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market is located at 781 Farmers' Market Lane in Foley, north of Baldwin County 20 and east of Koniar Way. The market is open each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Anyone wanting more information on the CAFFM can contact Forland at (251) 709-4469.