The Neighborhood News Online

Farmers Market Comes to Washington

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Category: Community News

Published on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 21:08

Written by Lora Davis

The market will be open every Sunday from 9-1, beginning March 21st in the Smyrna Church parking lot.

The address is 4394 Washington Blvd, 2 blocks west of Crenshaw.   There is plenty of street parking available. For inquiries, please contact Lora Davis, Market Manager, 323-373-0961

After the youngest of my four children went away to college, I was determined to dedicate more time to my community. Since I love all things food- related, I decided that I would focus my efforts on bringing a farmers’ market to my neighborhood.

Real farmers markets feature food produced on local farms brought to market by the growers themselves. Often featuring organic produce, these markets are an excellent way to buy what is in season while supporing local farmers. I was able to convince my dear friend Kathy Lewis, who had experience with other farmers’ markets and Denise Cusano, a Wellington Square resident, who I worked with on various neighborhood projects, to jump on board.

We needed a place and got lucky. For a small fee to cover any extra trash collection and power that would be used, the Smyrna Seventh-day Adventist Church was willing to let us use their parking lot. Looking for a way to get more involved in the community, a farmers’ market was an ideal way to promote the Seventh-day Adventist’s healthy diet, which is mostly vegetarian.

Like all start-up operations, we desperately needed money. After doing some research, I learned that  Kaiser Permanente had a history with farmers’ markets that goes way back, and that  Preston Maring, MD, a Kaiser Permanente  physician, started the “Friday Fresh” farmers’ market at the Oakland Medical Center in 2003. Since then, he has helped to grow 35 more local produce markets at Kaiser Permanente facilities across America. Kaiser Permanente also supports other farmers’ markets in communities near their medical centers and clinics. They generously agreed to donate to ours.

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