Looking at the inviting booths and fresh goods at
Thursday’s weekly Westwood Farmers’ Market on June 24,
it seemed like last week was no different than any other for the
growers and sellers that have been gracing Weyburn Avenue with
their homegrown produce and fresh-cut flowers for the past 10
years.
But last week was the first time the market was held after it
had been expelled June 15 from the Southland Farmers’ Market
Association for “financial irregularities.” The trade
association represents over 20 certified farmers’ markets and
more than 700 certified California producers, providing legislative
and advertising support for the markets.
The association said the Westwood market had violated its code
of ethics, which led to its decision to expel the market ““
the first expulsion in the association’s 21 years of
existence.
“The market has refused to account for hundreds of
thousands of dollars of unexplained expenses over the last several
years. In addition, there is no evidence that the market has
provided financial assistance to the Westwood community programs as
was its original intent,” a press release from the
association said.
Both the association’s leaders and vendors say the
farmer’s market likely will continue without
Southland’s support as it did Thursday.
The Westwood market’s manager, Aaron Shapiro, and
associate manager, Steve Whipple, could not be reached for comment
after numerous phone calls made to the market’s office since
Wednesday.
Members of Southland are required to pay association fees and
file monthly income reports for the market to have transparency and
accountability to the community, said Howell Tumlin, executive
director for Southland.
Westwood’s market had not done either for at least the
past year, said Laura Avery, president of Southland’s board
of directors and market manager of the Santa Monica Farmers’
Market.
“The larger issue is that we feel that the farmers’
market is a community service. “¦ The market should be
accountable to that community,” Tumlin said. “The most
important way to do that is to be transparent about how the money
in the market is spent.”
Both Tumlin and Avery say the Westwood market easily could be
granted readmission into the association if it simply abides by the
code of ethics and membership agreement.
Market managers from markets comparable to Westwood’s said
they have had no difficulties complying with Southland’s
policies.
Still, the Westwood market has no legal obligation to make
expenditure reports, said Cato Fiksdal, the L.A. County
agricultural commissioner, whose department licensed the market
when it was founded in 1994.
County officials also said they had no jurisdiction over the
dispute between Southland and the market.
Though the dispute at hand is directly limited to Southland and
the market, interviews with several farmers’ markets and
vendors across Southern California make it apparent that
there’s more to the story than Westwood Farmers’
Market’s expulsion from its trade association.
Some vendors are concerned that the Westwood market has been
collecting fees for the trade association but has not been using
the money to pay the association.
“The farmers are a little reticent to say anything.
“¦ We are barely making it and afraid of being kicked
out,” said one farmer who sells peaches and apples in
Westwood and wished to remain unidentified.
She added that she had been selling her goods in Westwood since
the market’s inception and cannot bring herself to move.
“If I had a choice, I would go to a different market.
“¦ But in most ways its our market and our community’s
market,” the farmer said.
But another vendor, Bob Polito ““ a farmer who grows citrus
fruits and avocados in his farm in northern San Diego ““ had
no recollection whether the market directors had collected fees and
says he has experienced a good working relationship with the
management.
There’s also James Pudwill, a berry grower, who
discontinued his relationship with the Westwood market several
years ago. Pudwill said he had been dissatisfied with a relocation
of his booth within the market and with the fact the market began
selling goods from noncertified growers. But Pudwill adds this
practice is becoming common among other farmers’ markets.
Another point of concern is the nonprofit organization that
sponsors the Westwood Market, an organization that was established
and run by the market’s management ““ which is an
unusual practice, Tumlin says.
County law requires all certified farmers’ markets to be
sponsored by a state agency, a farmer or a nonprofit
organization.
The organization, named the Farmers’ Market Education
Foundation, was created last year when its original nonprofit
sponsor dissolved. Tumlin said he urged the city to look to other
already established organizations to run the market ““ he even
tried UCLA but was refused.