A farmer's market at Loma Alta Park may be closer to reality, as the county is about two weeks away from an agreement with a potential market manager.
Al Evans of the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Dept. said that the county was talking to two different potential managers: one who could manage a regular certified market, and one who specialized in organic markets.
The difference, Evans said, is that for an organic market, each farmer is inspected to make sure it meets state regulations for organic produce, and prices are a little higher.
The potential organic market manager is a local resident, Evans said, which was an added attraction.
Evans said that the county also had ongoing meetings with the organizers of the Altadena Urban Farmer's Market (AUFM), which he said was "[looking] at us to maybe assimilate them."
According to Steve Rudicel, one of the organizers of the AUFM, Evans and Silvera Grant of the Community Garden did work to include some AUFM vendors in this weekend's Community Garden Picnic, but said there were no immediate plans to assimilate.
Rudicel did say that the AUFM's future was uncertain, as it has outgrown its location at the Zane Grey Estate, and noted that the AUFM vendors at the community picnic were those who had passed state inspections and could fold into a certified farmer's market. AUFM has also included hobby gardeners and food vendors who were not inspected and may not pass county muster.
But Rudicel said that their goals were the same: "We just want to make sure that Altadena has the coolest farmer's market it can."
