If you’ve ever stood at the Aptos Farmers Market holding an unfamiliar vegetable and wondering what on earth to do with it, chances are Chef Andrew Cohen appeared at your elbow with a smile.
“Oh, that? You’re going to love it,” he’d say — and before you knew it, you had not one recipe, but two. Maybe three.
For nearly 25 years, Andrew has served as Chef in Residence for the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets. But titles don’t quite capture who he is to us. He is our teacher. Our produce translator. Our flavor alchemist. The gentle voice that reminds us that food is sacred.
To Andrew, the farmers market isn’t just a place to shop. It’s his church.
A California Kid Who Fell in Love with Flavor
Andrew’s love of food began early. At seven years old, he made his first salad under the guidance of his mother, who had recently moved from Illinois to California and was dazzled by the fresh produce.
“She couldn’t get over it,” Andrew recalls. “All that beautiful California produce.”
Their backyard had citrus trees and even an avocado tree. He learned to score cucumbers and carve radish roses. His father perfected Chicken Marengo. Somewhere between fennel-scented pork chops and backyard oranges, Andrew discovered what he calls “flavor and spice alchemy.”
He was hooked.
While majoring in environmental studies, ethics, and communication at UC Santa Cruz in the early 1980s, he gravitated toward food jobs — managing the campus coffee house, working at India Joze, The Crow’s Nest, and a sushi bar. Though law school once beckoned, his heart led him elsewhere — to the California Culinary Academy and eventually to an internship at Alice Waters’ legendary Chez Panisse.
There, Andrew’s philosophy crystallized.
Freshness matters. Seasonality matters. Farmers matter.
Alice Waters famously listed the farmers’ names on her menus and printed a simple line at the bottom: Thank the farmers.
Andrew never forgot it.
Rain, Mesclun, and the Herb Lady
More than four decades ago, Andrew visited one of the our early Santa Cruz farmers markets, then held in a parking lot at the County Building. The organic movement was just taking root.
He remembers a rainy day when only one farmer showed up: Laurie Coke of Coke Farms — known then as “the herb lady.” She stood there, rain or shine, selling mesclun (baby greens) and fillet beans long before they were trendy.
Andrew stayed. They shared a flask of hot coffee.
That moment says everything.
Farmers show up. Community shows up. You stay.
“Eat Close to the Ground; Eat All Colors.”
Andrew’s philosophy is beautifully simple: Eat close to the ground. Eat all colors.
He believes food is miraculous — a seed goes into the earth, and nourishment comes out. Nutrition sustains us. Flavor delights us. Feeding people is joy.
His favorite vegetable? Celeriac.
Why?
“Because it’s ugly. And no one talks about it.”
If that isn’t Andrew in a nutshell — championing the overlooked, finding beauty in the humble — what is?
The Market Is His Stage
In the early 2000s, the Aptos Farmers Market launched its “From Market to Table” cooking demos. Andrew finally had a stage.
But really, he’d been teaching all along.
He lights up most when children try something new. The moment a skeptical child tastes a strange vegetable and their eyes widen? That’s his magic.
He blurs sweet and savory. He might pair a vanilla cream sauce with shellfish just to see what happens. His kitchen is his playground.
And at the market, he is in constant motion — greeting farmers, studying what’s new, answering questions. Customers seek him out. Farmers trust him. He is our living encyclopedia of produce — but also something softer and more important: a connector.
When Life Changed Overnight
Two years ago, Andrew developed a severe infection that led to sepsis and life-altering complications. Both of his legs were amputated.
After one hospitalization, he was released on a Friday afternoon.
The very next morning, he came to the farmers market.
“To be with my tribe,” he says.
Recovery has been long. One prosthetic is fitted. The other leg needs more healing time. For now, Andrew relies on a manual wheelchair that is difficult to maneuver.
He lives in an ADU separated from the main house by stairs. The physical barriers are significant. The isolation is real.
But what he says helped him most?
“The love shown to me by my family, friends, and community. I truly feel the love at the farmers market.”
Now It’s Our Turn
Andrew has spent decades lifting others up — farmers, children, home cooks, anyone willing to taste something new. He has given his time, his knowledge, his recipes, his presence.
Now our community has the chance to lift him.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to provide:
- A motorized wheelchair for safe daily mobility
- Ramps and access improvements to connect his living space to the main house
- An accessible outdoor deck so he can sit in the sun and welcome friends
- Groundwork for raised beds and an outdoor cooking area so he can once again garden, teach, and create
This isn’t about charity.
It’s about restoring independence.
It’s about sunlight.
It’s about dignity.
It’s about returning a beloved teacher to the center of the community he helped build.
If Andrew has ever handed you a recipe, explained an unfamiliar fruit, convinced your child to try something green, or reminded you to thank the farmers — this is a moment to thank him.
Every donation helps. Every share matters.
Because food is sacred.
And so is community.
If Andrew has ever inspired you, taught you, or simply made your market morning brighter, we invite you to stand with him now. Please consider making a donation through the GoFundMe campaign. Together, we can help restore his mobility, independence, and connection to the community he loves so deeply.
