The Sustainable Community
What sustains a community? Local involvement and institutions that bring the community together.
One familiar institution is the weekly farmer's market in your neighborhood. You can count on seeing the familiar faces of the vendors and of your neighbors; with the friendly "hello, how are you?" you begin the transaction process of buying produce from someone you trust to sustaining your neighborhood by keeping the vendors in business and by walking out your door to participate in your local community. A recent study by the MarketUmbrella.org of local farmer's markets found that neighborhoods that do support local markets, felt that the markets improved the health of the community, that they use the market to interact with their neighbors and that the markets improved perceptions of the neighborhood. The study also found that each market served the local ethnic groups and that Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) of which the Atwater Village Farmers' Market (AVFM) is a part of, serves a high percentage of the low-income, ethnic or minority residents and communities in transition.
One of the smaller Farmers' Markets is in Atwater Village, a small slice of Los Angeles between Los Feliz and Glendale, with a population of over 16,000 people. It was once part of Rancho San Rafael in the early 1800's, it was later named after Harriet Atwater Paramore in 1912 after the Atwater family purchased it from W.C.B.Richardson.
I met with Joyce Chan the manager of the AVFM last Sunday, and after buying my weekly produce, Joyce brought me to four vendors to talk about their involvement with the market and community. First a bit about Joyce; Joyce was a bookkeeper for SEE-LA and jumped at the chance to run the Atwater Village Farmers' Market, it was the neighborhood next to Silverlake, where she grew up in, and still participates in by way of her daughter's schooling. She hired local talent to entertain the kids, which helped the community spirit by involving the children in the process of shopping for local produce and by bringing them out into the neighborhood.
I interviewed four vendors at the market about their involvement with the Atwater Village Farmers' Market to get their stories and views about community farmers' markets:
Jim Van Foeken
Jim, a California native has been selling citrus produce from his Ivanhoe farm at AVFM for two years, and sells in eight other farmer's markets across Los Angeles and the South Bay. Jim has been selling fruit for over 25 years, before that he was a dairy farmer. Jim has seen the traffic in the markets increase, yet his costs are escalating faster than his prices; it's a serious consideration for him because he keeps his prices stable despite his costs. Jim has to compete with Grocery stores that sell produce at cost to bring in customers who will then buy the higher margin products, he is hoping that his clients see the benefits in fresh local produce rather than the produce that is from out of state. I bought a 6 lb. bag of oranges that still had the scent of the tree it came from, and for less than I would've paid at the local grocery store.
David Rojas Isaias of Simply Natural by Abode
David has been selling hand crafted candles and soap at the Atwater Farmer's market for over a year. David learned how to make candles from his mother, it was a family tradition to use the wax from their bee farm in Mexico City, following in his father's footsteps his nine year old son helps him at the stall and he is also responsible for cleaning out the candle molds. . Since beeswax is more expensive he now uses soy to make his candles. David is trying to keep his prices stable because of the economy, people are buying less of his products because their money goes to food first, crafts second. His selection of reasonably priced soaps ranged from chocolate to peach, the candles would make wonderful gifts for that bridal shower, or for a friend in need of a bit of pampering.
Gustavo Jimenez of Jimenez Farms
Gustavo has been selling at the AVFM for over a year, and also sells at four other Sunday markets, including the Hollywood Farmers' Market. His farm is just over 2 hours away from Los Angeles. His wife sells pies next to the seasonal produce; one year they had an over abundance of pumpkins and she decided to make pumpkin pies to sell, now she sells pies and jams from other fruit from their farm; today it was apple and rhubarb pies. Each one of them had a beautiful criss cross pastry, and the apples popped through the delicate lattice. I bought an organic pumpkin for a nice soup later in the week.
Ruth Sandoval of Delmy's Pupusas & Lemonade
Ruth's mother started selling Pupusas at the Hollywood Farmer's Market nine years ago, and now Ruth has branched out to the AVFM. Pupusas are from El Salvador, they are a thick hand made tortilla made from maize and stuffed with cheese. Ruth and her mother had to give out free samples at the beginning in Hollywood and Atwater Village to educate the locals as to what a Pupusa was; after that they then created Pupusas for the people who requested vegetarian versions, they changed their menu to suit the community. Ruth also serves a Strawberry drink made from the strawberries she buys from the other vendors, her specialty Ensalada De Fruta is a mix of fresh fruit and juices, which cools down the homemade hot salsa she serves with the Pupusas. Her handmade Pupusas are a hit at home and at the market where I had to dodge a line to interview her. Ruth works the stand on weekends, during the week she manages Section 8 housing (a Federal housing program which provides housing assistance to low income renters and homeowners), and also runs community outreach groups. Ruth is an amazing whirlwind of energy and her commitment to the neighborhood shows in so many ways, its hard to list them all here.
A healthy Community is built on human interaction, without that we are nothing but free floating bits of jetsam and flotsam that let us drift away aimlessly and without care. Your community is where you live, where you sleep, where you sustain yourself in this lifetime, it's time to step outside and meet your neighbor; and one of the easiest ways is to go to your weekly local farmer's market, not only will you become a part of the community you will sustain its health and longevity.
Atwater Village Farmers' Market is open every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm and is located at 3250 Glendale Blvd. in the Wells Fargo Bank Parking Lot, Los Angeles, CA 90039
The market features about 15+ farmers selling their produce, nuts, honey, soaps, crafts, cooked foods and flowers. The market accepts both EBT and Farmers' Market Nutrition Program WIC coupons.
Photos from top:
1. A family at the Atwater Village Farmers' Market enjoying the free balloons.
2. Joyce Chan (far right), Pompea Smith(2nd to the right) and others celebrating the 2nd Annivesary of the Atwater Village Farmers' Market.
3. Jim Van Foeken at his stall.
4. David Rojas Isaias and son.
5. Gustavo Jimenez, with the latest in seasonal squashes.
6. The multi-talented Ruth Sandoval
Some of Mrs. Jimenez's homemade pies and jams.
