Graduate student Diana Ionescu helps organize a new farmer’s market in Palms

The original version of this article contained multiple errors and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.

Sitting behind a fold-out table covered with pamphlets and flyers, Diana Ionescu caught a wiff of fresh strawberries.

After a spending a morning mingling with visitors of the Motor Avenue Farmers Market in Palms, the second-year urban planning and Latin American studies graduate student weaved between stands to pick up a bag of fresh oranges from a stand to bring home to her apartment.

For the past two months, the crowded market has become part of Ionescu’s Sunday routine.

She is invested in the market not only as a community member but as one of the principle organizers of one of the newest markets in the Palms area, a neighborhood about five miles south of the UCLA campus.

Ionescu, a Houston-native, had never been to a farmer’s market until she moved to Los Angeles in 2006 as an undergraduate student.

About two years ago, she began an internship with the Motor Avenue Improvement Association, a group that seeks to improve the area of Palms where Ionescu lives, to expand on her urban planning education.

At the internship, Ionescu learned about a desire in the community for a more accessible farmer’s market.

The idea of starting a farmer’s market intrigued her, so she embarked on the process of bringing one to her own neighborhood.

Ionescu didn’t know much about what goes into farmer’s markets, but learned through trial-and-error working alongside the other interns on her team at the Improvement Association.

“A lot of farmer’s markets are run by professional companies,” she said. “I was figuring things out as we went along.”

As the months went by, permits for the event started coming in and more and more vendors came on board.

After two years negotiating road closures with city officials and recruiting local farmers, Ionescu unveiled the market early last month.

“It was great (when it opened).” Ionescu said. “There are so many moving parts; it is nice to see it all come together.”

Many members of the local community such as Aithi Hong, a Palms resident and UCLA alumna, said they are grateful to have the farmer’s market in the area.

“I especially like the Asian vegetables that you can’t get in stores,” Hong said. “The market makes it easier to find foods I like.”

Every week, about 30 vendors line a block near the corner of National Boulevard and Motor Avenue. Many of them are local farmers in the area who visit several other farmer’s markets. Others are business owners with shops within blocks of the Palms farmer’s market.

The owners of My Baby Jo, a vintage shop in the area, started opening the store on Sundays just to accommodate the market crowd of a few hundred people.

“We are getting a lot of business from local people who wanted to come in during the week but were too busy,” said Darla Matoya, one of the owners of My Baby Jo.

Ionescu said one of her favorite parts of the market is the connection it helps forge between local businesses and community members who might not have known about them before.

“I remember one time buying this sweater,” Ionescu said, pointing to a skull emblazoned jacket she bought at My Baby Jo’s at the market. A woman in the store said she never knew about the shop, which had been there for almost 10 years, and came in because of the market.

As a more than five-year resident of Palms, Ionescu said she is excited that the market gave the community a place to come together.

“I will overhear conversations of people meeting each other or making business connections.” Ionescu said.

As the market becomes more established, Ionescu said she hopes to extend the market’s hours and the variety of vendors.

Email Donnelly at edonnelly@media.ucla.edu.

Correction: The farmers market is near the corner of National Boulevard and Motor Avenue, about five miles south of the UCLA campus.