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The Market:
Santa
Monica Farmers Market
Arizona Ave. between 1st and 4th St.
Wed. and Sat., 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m
(310) 458-8712
Market-Goer: Mark
Thompson
| This farmers
market, on
Arizona Ave.
between 2nd and 4th Streets, is celebrating its 30th
year in 2011. Sponsored
by the city of Santa Monica, which also oversees two
other markets in other parts of the seaside town, it has
become one of the biggest and best farmers markets in
the country -- thanks in no small part to the
management’s aggressive focus on integrity.
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As the market’s web
site explains, customers who come to a certified farmers
market “expect to be buying produce directly from the farm
where it was grown.” In order to ensure they are getting
that at the farmers markets in
Santa Monica
, the management team “conducts on-farm inspections on a
regular basis, and visits each new farm before it is
introduced to the market. Integrity builds trust, which
ensures participant loyalty, both of which are key to the
markets’ success.”
Managers also collect “growing
practices” information from all farmers, describing the
methods they use to control weeds, pests and soil fertility,
which is available for inspection by customers. And the
management conducts a mystery shopper program, “to verify
accuracy and integrity in all sales transactions.”
These efforts to keep vendors honest
ensure that real farmers aren’t going to be underbid by cut
rate produce trucked in from wholesale produce markets by
imposters masquerading as farmers. That encourages and rewards
the sort of innovation that is reflected in the mind-boggling
array of literally hundreds of varieties of fruits and
vegetables on sale each market day. The quality and the
diversity of produce available at the four weekly markets, in
three locations, draws an estimated 900,000 shoppers every
year.
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I was a regular visitor during the 25 years I lived in
Los Angeles
, and look forward to return visits during my several yearly return
trips to
L.A.
from my current home in
Princeton
,
New Jersey
. Here are some of my previous reports from
Santa Monica
’s farmers markets:
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What I Bought:
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heirloom
tomatoes
Price: $4/lb.
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(left
to right) papaya, gold river and gaya melons
Price: $1.50/lb.
jicama
and dragonfruit
Price: $2/lb. for
jicama
$1/each for dragonfruit
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Italian,
fairy tale and Chinese eggplants
Price: $3.75/lb. for
eggplant
(clockwise
from top left) lipstick, pimento, cubanelle,
toro de oro and padron peppers
Price: $10/lb. for
padron peppers
$3/lb. for other varieties
(clockwise
from top left) white nectarine, Kelsey plum,
Last Chance peach, gala apple, honeycrisp apple, Arkansas
Indian white peach, prune plum, elephant heart
plum
Eight
apple desserts: pie, cake, cookie, crisp and more
Four apple preserve
recipes: two chutneys, jam and butter
Price: $2.75/lb. for
apples
$3/lb. for peaches, plums and nectarine
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