About and FAQS
About Fill Your Pantry
This year's ninth annual Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry event is coming to you Saturday, November 9th from 11am to 3pm at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds OSU Extension parking lot rain or shine or sleet or snow!
Never been to a Fill Your Pantry event? You won’t want to miss this!
Fill Your Pantry is a community bulk-buying farmers market created to encourage local food security and food sovereignty. We do this by giving farmers and ranchers an opportunity to offload a huge amount of product before the harsh Central Oregon winter, and by give eaters and customers the opportunity to buy these products at lower bulk prices.
Customers can choose to Pre-Order items (this happens about two to three weeks before the event), so that these items are prepaid and held for them, or you can choose to shop day-of, or both! Many people pre-order items they think might sell out, so that they are guaranteed the items they’d like without having to worry about showing up too early.
The busy time of the FYP event is usually right at opening; between 11am and 12pm. The lines lessen some after 12pm and by 2pm, many vendors are beginning to sell out of items.
Striving for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity
We strongly believe in community over everything. Fill Your Pantry was started to created a healthier, more robust, more food secure Central Oregon community. Fill Your Pantry strives to be accessible to every single member of our community. We work hard every year to create a more welcoming event, a more equitable event, and an event that exemplifies the community and the place we want to live in. We believe BIPOC lives matter, we believe LGBTQ+ lives matter, we believe Latinx lives matter. These folx are members of our community who we seek to welcome and empower in whatever ways we can. Any suggestions to make FYP more welcoming? We’d love to hear them! Please email hello@centraloregonfillyourpantry.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Can anyone come or do I need tickets? Yes, anyone can come. There are no tickets for this event. This event operates like a Farmers Market, so first come first serve.
Do I have to buy things in bulk? This farmers market is focused on bulk buying to get you, the customer, the best bang for your buck, and to help the farmers move items out of their barns and into your cupboards. There will be some items for sale in non-bulk quantities like some cuts of meat, salad greens, etc. If bulk sizes are too big, consider going in on items with friends or neighbors.
How do I pay for things? This is a farmers market, so you will pay each individual farmer/rancher/producer. Many vendors take credit card, but some may not. It is always best practice to bring cash or checks for vendors to avoid credit card fees.
Do you take EBT? We are partnering with Bend Farmers Market to help us make this possible. Bend Farmers Market will be set up at the event to exchange EBT/SNAP dollars for wooden tokens. You will then take the wooden tokens and spend them like your normal EBT with participating vendors.
How does pre-ordering work and do I HAVE to pre-order? Pre orders are NOT mandatory, but merely ensure that you get the products you want. Pre order items are NOT the only items available at Fill Your Pantry. We will have more vendors and more items available day-of as well. Pre ordered items MUST be picked up at the Fill Your Pantry event. If you do not pick up your pre order items, you forfeit those items. Pre ordered items MUST be paid for before the order is placed with the farmers. The day-of the event, you will visit each farmer/producer you ordered from and pick-up your products from each individual business. Please make note of who you ordered from so that you remember to visit them.
Interested in Volunteering?
We are looking for volunteers to help vendors with set up and take down, to help with parking and customer flow, and to act as personal shoppers. If you are interested, our partners at High Desert Food & Farm Alliance (HDFFA) have offered to help us with volunteer management! Please contact info@hdffa.org or visit the volunteer website by clicking the button below.