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market-farming - [Market-farming] FW: [urb-eco] Farmers Markets in LA

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  • From: Marty Kraft <martyk AT allspecies.org>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] FW: [urb-eco] Farmers Markets in LA
  • Date: Sat, 07 May 2005 10:38:07 -0500

Thought this might be helpful to some.

Marty Kraft

----------
From: Richard Risemberg <rickrise AT earthlink.net>
Reply-To: urban-ecology AT yahoogroups.com
Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 08:28:47 -0700
To: urban-ecology AT yahoogroups.com, newcolonist AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [urb-eco] Farmers Markets in LA

> http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-
> smallmarket4may04,1,421128.story
>
> SPECIAL ISSUE | FARMERS MARKETS | COMMUNITY
>
> Around every corner
>
> Each neighborhood farmers market has its own flavor. Think yours is
> the best? You're right.
> By Susan LaTempa
> Times Staff Writer
>
> May 4, 2005
>
> Every Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. I step off Commuter Express bus No. 437
> into what feels like a street festival. A jazz combo plays, Sony
> Pictures Studio employees saunter by with bouquets of flowers, kids
> scarf up handfuls of popcorn.
>
> It's a farmers market, of course, my local ‹ Culver City.
>
> I'd always thought of this comfy neighborhood farmers market as a
> small market. It's just one block long with about 15 to 20 farmers and
> an equal number of prepared-food vendors (sausage-makers, tamales).
> Some of the farmers who sell here also sell at the big markets, and we
> have a Röckenwagner bakery table where I always buy pretzel bread.
>
> But it's not a food-insiders scene. You might spot a well-known
> screenwriter or director among the studio folk, but you're not likely
> to see chefs from restaurants other than those on the block. Instead,
> it's the kind of market where office workers on their way home shop
> for vegetables for dinner or seedlings for their gardens. Where
> parents, having picked up their kids from day care, enjoy an al fresco
> family meal.
>
> The area's big farmers markets ‹ Santa Monica, Torrance, Hollywood ‹
> are big business for farmers and festive outings for the shoppers.
> Cookbook signings, celebrity chef sightings and high prices for
> exquisite produce are part of the scene. Soaking in that scene, it's
> easy to forget the original mission of the late '70s farmers market
> movement.
>
> But at the smaller markets, that mission ‹ bringing fresh produce to
> city dwellers while making it possible for small farmers to sell
> directly to consumers at retail prices ‹ is thriving. As it turns out,
> Culver City is mid-sized ‹ an Accord, not a Mini Cooper. L.A.'s
> smallest, the Saturday morning Los Angeles (Harambee) farmers market
> on Crenshaw, often has a mere half-dozen booths and just one farmer.
>
> And what a farmer he is. The tables set up by Will Robinson and his
> wife, Marcella, in the tree-shaded parking lot next to a community
> center are like an old-fashioned farm stand ‹ one that you didn't have
> to drive to Fresno, where their 80 acres are ‹ to find. The Robinsons,
> who have 40 acres in vineyards and sell raisins to Sun-Maid, bring
> their produce to just two markets, one in Oakland and the Harambee
> (Swahili for "Let's pull together").
>
> Will Robinson, a warm, welcoming man, sells a little bit of
> everything in season, recently including carrots, green onions,
> squash, celery, cabbage, cauliflower and greens of all kinds. He also
> has small bags of heirloom butter beans and black-eyed peas dried from
> last summer's crop (this year's will arrive in a few months), raisins,
> peanuts and black and English walnuts (shelled and unshelled). He sets
> out a hammer and small anvil on his table so kids can learn what kind
> of muscle it takes to shell a black walnut.
>
> From coolers behind the table, Marcella Robinson unpacks yam muffins,
> pickled okra, Texas caviar and other farm-kitchen goodies.
>
> The Harambee market may be L.A.'s smallest (runner-up is the
> three-farmer Saturday morning Los Angeles market at 43rd and Central,
> across from the historic Dunbar Hotel), but like other small farmers
> markets, it exists because of a combination of state and local
> initiative. Among the local nonprofit organizations that sponsor
> farmers markets are food banks, benevolent associations, redevelopment
> agencies, churches, growers associations, a hospital foundation and
> economic empowerment organizations.
>
> While you won't find designer vegetables at every one of the smaller
> markets, you will often find a few of the producers who also sell at
> the larger markets, and, almost every time out, you'll find unique and
> unusual products ‹ along with an amazing spectrum of Angelenos.
>
> At the Monday morning market in South Gate, for example, I came
> across the Unknown Vegetable (well, previously unknown to me), a
> branchy, leafy green being tied into bundles in a truck bed by a
> worker from Santillan Farms. My fellow shoppers told me in English and
> Spanish that it was "like spinach." It was called simply quelites (a
> generic term for greens) and, along with a similar green identified as
> mora (or hierba mora), was selling for $1 a bunch. I still don't know
> its scientific name, but sautéed with garlic, onions and tomatoes (as
> I was advised to do by the woman at the Azteca Farm table, who also
> had it) it was delicious, very tender and light.
>
> Crisscrossing the city, stopping at markets before and after work, on
> lunch hours and weekends, I also bought pink navel oranges in Glendale
> from Walker Ranch, Asian-pear jelly from Ha's Apple Farm at the West
> Adams and Vermont market, fresh blooming chamomile from ABC Herbs in
> West Hollywood, and a cherimoya from Buena Tierra Farm at the
> Chinatown market.
>
>
>
> A real connection
>
> The markets are hugely important to their communities. The Adams and
> Vermont market takes place in a tree-shaded corner of the parking lot
> at St. Agnes school, which has closed early every Wednesday since the
> market opened in 1980 to accommodate the farmers and shoppers.
> According to market manager Ida Edwards, this market has one of the
> highest volume of sales using EBT cards (electronic cards used in
> place of food stamps) in the city.
>
> Not all small markets serve low-income areas, of course. The tiny
> Sunday morning market on Melrose Place near La Cienega is surrounded
> by the elegant storefronts of some of the world's most expensive and
> beautiful antique shops.
>
> Often, the farmer-customer interactions cut across ethnic lines. In
> West Hollywood, Hmong farmers sell baby bok choy and Asian greens to
> Anglo housewives and immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In
> Chinatown, Latino farmers say "thank you" in Chinese. And in Burbank,
> Z Ranch vegetable sellers hand out Zebunnesa Zeba Zubair's recipe for
> Indian eggplant (with seeds from Bangladesh) that are picked up by
> Jewish and Armenian shoppers.
>
> Wendy Reisman of Buena Tierra Farm near San Diego causes a small riot
> each week during the spring when she comes with her cherimoyas to the
> Thursday-afternoon market in downtown L.A.'s Chinatown neighborhood.
> You'll see a few cherimoyas in farmers markets everywhere around town,
> especially in markets known to have some Asian customers. But
> Reisman's cherimoyas are top-quality ‹ large and incredibly sweet and
> refined. Her fans are intensely loyal.
>
> "This is my third year in Chinatown," says Reisman. "I'm seasonal; I
> only come four months out of the year. If I went to Huntington Beach
> or Long Beach, I wouldn't sell as much. It's good to go out and
> educate people, but a small farmer needs to sell their fruit. Right
> now there's no competition for me in Chinatown. I have a very good
> customer base."
>
> The Chinatown market has only about 10 booths most weeks. Vegetable
> vendors display 6-foot-long poles of sugar cane, giant daikon, piles
> of Chinese peas, various greens, Chinese broccoli. I was thrilled to
> find hot, fresh-roasted chestnuts from the Chestnut King (Rosemead)
> and peeled and ate them from a paper cone as I walked around. There
> were plenty of takers too (though the market's just steps away from
> dozens of restaurants) for the rotisserie Hawaiian chicken turning on
> large spits.
>
> The vibe at each of these markets varies depending on the opening
> hours. South Gate's mostly Latino Monday morning shoppers are
> energetic and resolute, working out menu ideas as they stock up on
> produce. At the Melrose Place Sunday-morning market, which opens at a
> leisurely 10 a.m., the espresso bar is first stop for tousle-headed
> thirtysomethings in chic sweats.
>
> Sunday morning at the Pacific Palisades market on Swarthmore near
> Sunset sees well-heeled customers buying armfuls of flowers. This
> compact but well-stocked market has a real Sunday-morning feel, people
> ambling slowly, nibbling at samples, chatting with friends. It's
> anchored on one end by a pet adoption booth and on the other by a tiny
> petting zoo, where earnest high school-age ranch hands oversee
> meet-and-greets between infants and young lambs and goats.
>
>
>
> Toddlers in tow
>
> Kids are a large part of the smaller farmers market scene.
>
> In Glendale, where the Thursday-morning market has about 15 vendors
> and the neighborhood's unique ethnic mix is reflected in the number of
> Armenian customers on hand, I thought at first that you had to have a
> toddler to get in. I hadn't seen so many 3- and 4-year-olds in one
> place since my daughters' preschool graduations. And everywhere around
> me women's voices were cooing, "Look at those beeeauuutiful carrots.
> Should we get some carrots?" And "See, honey, see the pretty oranges.
> Would you like some oranges?" There you have the farmers market as
> teaching tool.
>
> The kids are a little older at the Adams and Vermont market as
> parents pick them up from St. Agnes school and then hover as the
> farmers set up tables and unload produce. But a few hours later, it's
> a mellow market, with couples strolling by after work, grabbing a
> snack from the ceviche truck and filling a basket with nopales (very
> fresh), lemon grass, bulbing onions, chayote. One farmer naps in his
> truck, while his son-in-law mans the table.
>
> Even later, toward sunset on another day in Culver City, I linger as
> the farmers, many of whom have been up before dawn, fold up their
> awnings, finish the dinners they've bought in the market, and sell the
> few remaining heads of lettuce at a discount. I toss a buck in the
> jazz band's bucket and head home.
>
> But I'll be back ‹ and not only to "my" farmers market. From now on,
> I'm going to keep an eye out for those tell-tale white and blue
> canopies and take advantage every time I'm in the right place at the
> right time to grab a bunch of beets, talk to farmers about the weather
> and take the pulse of another neighborhood.
>
> *
>
> (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
>
> Swing by with your basket
>
> Burbank. East Olive Avenue at North Glenoaks Boulevard, 8 a.m. to
> 12:30 p.m., Saturdays. This 35-vendor market has lots of farmers, half
> a dozen plant and flower sellers and several bakeries or food vendors,
> so good choices abound. Look for great early tomatoes from Wong Farms;
> artichokes, asparagus from Sun Coast Farms.
>
> Culver City. Main Street between Venice and Culver boulevards, 2 to 7
> p.m. Tuesdays. Some of the farmers have been coming since the market
> began 10 years ago, but it's a real street festival, with prepared
> food and novelty vendors bringing the total to about 40 booths.
> Seedling man Peter Lee has a loyal following.
>
> Glendale. Parking lot 11 on Colorado Boulevard near the corner of
> Brand Boulevard, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays. Though it's in a
> temporary spot due to construction on the original site, shoppers are
> not deterred. They're serious buyers, loading up from about 15
> vendors. Gless Ranch and Walker Ranch have had tons of citrus;
> Underwood has had spectacular carrots, radishes, beets and
> blueberries.
>
> Los Angeles (Adams and Vermont). St. Agnes Church and school, West
> Adams Boulevard at Vermont Avenue, Wednesdays 2 to 6 p.m. There are
> usually around 20 booths here, with at least 15 farmers. A shaved-ice
> booth and ceviche truck provide snacks; St. Moritz Bakery from Lomita
> and a couple of nut packagers round out the vendors. Produce is
> gorgeous and varied: golden beets, bright green nopales and bulbing
> onions were recent features.
>
> Los Angeles (Central Avenue). 43rd Street at Central Ave., 9 a.m. to 1
> p.m. Saturdays. On a recent visit, there were just three farmers, but
> the selection was great, given the size. It's located across the
> street from historic Dunbar Hotel.
>
> Los Angeles (Chinatown). 727 Hill St., 2 to 7 p.m. Thursdays. This
> market draws Chinatown-area residents and downtown workers. There are
> about 10 booths most weeks, half farmers. The discerning clientele
> favors farmers with high-quality Asian-favored fruits and vegetables.
>
> Los Angeles (Harambee). 5730 Crenshaw Blvd., north of Slauson Avenue,
> 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Begun five years ago, the market is a
> project of the African Firefighters in Benevolent Assn., says market
> manager Jabari Jumaane. "We try to encourage better health," he says.
> "Where do you start with that? With the food." That mission is echoed
> at prepared-food booths featuring vegan and vegetarian dishes. Farmers
> Will and Marcella Robinson are fixtures.
>
>
>
> Los Angeles (Melrose Place). Melrose Place and Melrose Avenue, 10
> a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays. The pace and atmosphere are very
> weekend-relaxed. Patrons wander with coffee cups in hand, hang out at
> the half-dozen cloth-covered tables provided for snackers and linger
> as long over a jewelry-vendor's items as over the eggplants.
>
> Pacific Palisades. Swarthmore Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, 8 a.m. to
> 1:30 p.m., Sundays. Here you'll find a plethora of flower vendors,
> along with a blooming social scene and a comprehensive selection of
> produce. If you want to visit a farm, you can chat with the folks from
> Vital Zuman Farm in Malibu, which offers kids' agricultural classes.
> If you want the farm to come to you, there's a petting zoo and puppy
> adoption stand.
>
> South Gate. South Gate Park, Tweedy Boulevard and Pinehurst Avenue, 9
> a.m. to 1 p.m., Mondays. About 10 to 15 sellers do a good business at
> this vibrant but easygoing market with super-fresh produce including
> medicinal herbs and a variety of Latino specialties.
>
> West Hollywood. Plummer Park, north lot, 1200 N. Vista St. at Fountain
> Ave., 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays. It's easy to park next to this
> tree-lined market and join the actor types, moms and Eastern European
> grandmas. Signs are in Cyrillic and English lettering. Though the
> matrons aren't above bargaining late in the day, many of the vendors
> are of the upscale-organic variety.
>
> If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
> latimes.com/archives.


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>
> Article licensing and reprint options
>
>
> Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
>

--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.rickrise.com
http://www.newcolonist.com
http://www.living-room.org

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