Students dressed themselves as vegetables in self-fashioned
costumes Thursday afternoon to support the Westwood Village
Farmers’ Market and protest the passing of legislation that
would tax the market for weekly street closures.
After gathering at Bruin Plaza, about 20 student protestors
marched down into the market holding signs and chanting,
“Support the farmers’ market!”
The Los Angeles City Council is considering legislation that
would charge businesses $532 each week for street closures. The
Westwood Farmers’ Market, a non-profit organization, would be
hard pressed by the tax and would likely go out of business if
forced to pay the bill, the protestors said. The city council plans
to vote on the bill in its upcoming general meeting June 8.
California Students Sustainability Coalition, a student-run
organization promoting environmentally sound practices, organized
the protest in opposition of the bill to make its student opinion
heard by city council.
“We want to communicate to council members that the
farmers’ market is a fundamental part of the UCLA community
and Westwood,” said Melissa Haft, a first-year UCLA extension
design student and one of the event’s organizers.
She said that the protest also served to help get other students
involved in protesting the ordinance.
“Students don’t know that the farmers’ market
is under threat of demise. It’s the sort of thing we take for
granted,” Haft said.
The intent of the street closure tax is not to shut down the
Westwood Farmers’ Market, but to help the city recoup its
budget deficit, said Julie Pietroski, senior legislative deputy for
the L.A. City Council president pro tempore, in a May 10 Daily
Bruin article.
She said that the city council is considering a clause that
would keep the Westwood Farmers’ Market exempt from paying
the street closure fees, and the possibility of turning down the
entire proposal is also up for discussion.
Some of the protestors believed that much of the UCLA community
remains uninformed about what could happen to the farmers’
market. Through participating in the event, they planned to help
make others aware of the proposed street closure tax.
“We want to bring a big contingency and make sure people
understand that students want the farmers’ market to
stay,” said Dorothy Le, a third-year biochemistry
student.
The lack of knowledge among students regarding the proposed
street closure tax could cost them greatly in the long run, said
Megan Carney, a third-year anthropology student who helped organize
the protest. She said that students needed to take up action in
saving the market if they wanted a nearby place for fresh
produce.
“We need to support the local food market, for it could
very possibly close in the next few months. That’s why we
made fools of ourselves and dressed up as vegetables,” Carney
said.
Upon seeing the student protestors, some merchants cheered them
on as they marched through the market.
“The protest does help raise awareness, and we appreciate
all their effort,” said Daniel McFeeley, a fruit merchant at
the Westwood Farmers’ Market.
The UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council Facilities
Commission has taken note of the Westwood Farmers’ Market and
is also voicing its support for the market through contact with the
Los Angeles City Council.
“We’ve sent letters of our support for the
farmers’ market. We’re going to enact change,”
said Joseph Vardner, USAC Facilities commissioner.
Another student who came to buy fruit at the market weekly said
that the market was a historical part of Westwood that should
remain as it is.
“It brings the community together and has become a big
part of the culture in the area,” said Shao-Chung Shen, a
fifth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics
student.