Separated by only a few miles, Westwood is home to two different farmers’ markets, and while both markets strive to provide fresh produce to UCLA students and surrounding community members, they compete with large supermarkets to make a name for themselves in a big city.
The original Westwood Village Farmers’ Market, previously located on Weyburn Avenue at Westwood Boulevard, closed in 2006. While it was eventually re-opened by the same operators but in a different location, another market opened as well.
The Westwood Farmers’ Market at the Veterans’ Gardens off Constitution Avenue is open on Thursdays, and the new Westwood Village Farmers’ Market, which opened in July, is located on Broxton Avenue on Sundays.
The two markets provide an alternative to grocery chain stores such as Ralphs and Whole Foods.
“We are very determined and very intent on staying in the Village and maintaining a market that is walkable from the UCLA campus, from the med center and from many businesses,” said Steve Whipple, the Westwood Village Farmers’ Market coordinator.
Farmers’ markets are widely seen as beneficial for communities who wish to provide residents with fresh, locally grown produce, Whipple said.
Mark Wall, coordinator of the Westwood Farmers’ Market, said markets have the freshest produce around.
“What I can tell you for sure is that farmers’ market produce is freshest,” Wall said. “The farmer selling produce to you brought that produce the same morning you’re buying it.”
Wall also said that many students say they prefer farmers’ market goods to the local grocery store because of the guaranteed freshness of the products.
Christine Bonthius, a second-year Spanish and international development studies student, frequents the Westwood Village Farmers’ Market on Broxton Avenue.
“I really like that I get to talk to the people who produced the goods and actually know about where it came from,” she said.
Farmers’ market produce is usually organically grown and offers better nutrition than some store-bought produce, Wall said.
And the prices are usually lower because the cost of a middle man is cut out when producers to sell directly to consumers, he said.
“Usually when I get fruits and vegetables at the Westwood Village farmers’ market, it’s cheaper for sure,” Bonthius said. “Sometimes I can get strawberries and raspberries, especially, for like half the price.”
But the point of the farmers’ market is not necessarily lower prices.
“The price of produce at the farmers’ market and at Ralphs or Whole Foods really depends on the season,” Whipple said. “I wouldn’t say we’re always cheaper than a regular grocery store ““ I don’t think people come to a farmers’ market just to get the cheapest produce ““ but our quality is usually comparable to a store like Whole Foods.”
Whipple said the new Village market is trying to establish itself right now, since it is so new and only open on Sundays.
“We are smaller than the average farmers’ market,” he said. “The idea was to be as pro-local-business as possible and work with the local retailers as much as possible.”
According to Whipple, the Village Farmers’ Market is not making any profit at this point. The arrangement was that the profit would be split with the Westwood Village Improvement Association to pay for Village improvements such as street cleaning, but first the market must recoup initial investments.
But that does not mean the Village market is not trying to compete with other local markets and grocery stores.
“We can’t help but compete with other farmers’ markets,” Whipple said. “But it’s not our goal to compete and take customers away from other vendors; we’re all trying to get customers.”
But even though vendors and market coordinators may not want to raise prices for consumers, the price of goods at farmers’ markets may increase, because of the recent popularity of the small-time markets.
“Farmers’ markets used to serve a five- or 10-mile radius ““ they used to serve a region,” Wall said. “But now every retail store wants a farmers’ market nearby to help draw in customers.”
He said some people believe having a farmers’ market will bring more customers to stores and an increase in markets may become problematic.
“We’re starting to push the farmers too hard and stretch their resources too thin,” he said.
Increasing the number of farmers’ markets, and therefore the demand for the produce, may cause farmers to cheat customers with poor-quality produce, Wall said.
Currently, the farmers must pay 6 percent of their daily profits to the vendor who lets them sell their products at the Westwood Farmers’ market, he said.
The farmers pay this fee for their space in the market, and the money goes to the Veterans’ Garden and to the people hired to help set up, clean up and do promotional work for it, Wall said.
But despite the hard work of Wall, Whipple and others in maintaining the farmers’ markets, some students said it’s just too hard to find time to visit the markets on the days they are open.
“I don’t always want to do my shopping on a Thursday or a Sunday,” said Jessica Giffin, a second-year international development studies student. “And I don’t always know how to find out where other markets are located and when they are.”
And some students find larger grocery stores like Ralphs and Whole Foods to be more convenient for a student’s lifestyle than farmers’ markets.
“The farmers’ market is only there once a week,” Bonthius said. “And it’s sort of hard to keep produce as a student living in the dorms. Visiting the farmers’ market and buying produce there is sort of a special treat for me. It’s not really your “˜perfect one-stop shop’ that I sometimes really need.”