by Gloria Putnam
Arroyo Time Bank/Altadena Urban Farmer's Market
When the first group of vendors gathered at the Zane Grey Estate to set up their tables on a drizzly morning last October, none of us knew what to expect. The Altadena Urban Farmers Market is more social experiment than commercial venture. The Market is operated as a fundraiser, and the organizers and workers are paid in Arroyo Time Bank time dollars rather than cash.
For many vendors, participation in the Market is more about community building than making money. Homegrown and homemade food is priceless, in part because producing on a small scale is expensive, but mostly because the result is something that large scale agriculture can’t duplicate. To grow or cook enough food at home to share with the community is time consuming and labor intensive. To bring it to a market, and sell it for a price that is likely less than it cost to make it if labor were included, is an act of incredible generosity.
And Altadenans are no dummies; they know a good thing when they taste it. Over 300 people showed up to that first market and took home pumpkins, fresh baked bread, jams, pies and seedlings for their garden. And over the course of the next eight months, the market grew. In May, approximately 1000 people attended the Market, which included over 30 vendors and a packed afternoon of free workshops on topics from home cheese making to the history of urban agriculture in Los Angeles County.
A social experiment success
As far as social experiments go, the Market is a success. It has demonstrated that it’s possible to serve food to hundreds of people without creating a single disposable. Before the county’s ban on plastic bags, the Market gave us a chance to practice life without them. The Market successfully creates, for a few hours once a month, a real local food economy.
During each market, thousands of food dollars are diverted into the hands of members of our community. People eat food grown and prepared by their neighbors. Market patrons bought hundreds of vegetable seedlings. Some of those people brought back what they grew to exchange for other items at the Produce Booth. The Market established a sharing economy by hosting a FREE MARKET, where people give, receive and thereby bring back into service items ranging from cookbooks to clothing, diverting these useful items from our waste stream.
And although most of the exchanges at the Market happen with good old fashioned cash, there is also an active cashless economy. Through Time Dollar exchanges at the Market, the Arroyo Time Bank makes delicious local foods accessible to anyone willing to work a few hours to help a neighbor. And several vendors have launched businesses that before the Market were only dreams.
Outgrowing the nest
But the Market also has challenges to overcome. The Zane Grey Estate is an interesting venue for many reasons, but vendor space is limited. Every month dozens of community members who have products to share are turned away. Loading and unloading is cumbersome for vendors. Since the only available space is outdoors, and the Market has proven itself an effective rain dance, only vendors with tents can participate. Parking is challenging even for spry shoppers, and no handicap parking is available. With only 30 vendors and 1000 shoppers, many items were sold out in the first half of May’s event. In short, we have outgrown our venue.
Pictured: the Farmers' Market offered opportunities for small businesses, such as Earle Rothwell's "Earl's Gone Wild" barbecue sauce, to find a niche.
Thanks to the generosity of our vendors, the Arroyo Time Bank has raised enough money to move forward with their incorporation. Over the next few months, we will work at that and take some time to regroup and execute a plan to overcome the challenges, so the Market can come back in the fall bigger and better than ever.
In parallel, the County is working toward its goal of hosting a weekly farmers market at Loma Alta Park, and is entertaining proposals from potential market managers. One of those proposals has come from an Altadena Urban Farmers Market co-organizer, who envisions a coupling of the community spirit and educational components of the AUFM with the larger selection and lower cost of produce available from farms within a few hundred miles of Altadena. A weekly market at the park can also take advantage of programs offered by the USDA to make farmers market produce available to SNAP recipients.
Altadena: the best farmers market scene?
With both markets in Altadena, we can have the best farmers market scene in Los Angeles. The Altadena Urban Farmers Market can continue to incubate local businesses, experiment with innovative ideas for building resiliency in our community, and facilitate a truly local food economy. And with the weekly market at the Park, those ideas and businesses will have a place to grow and flourish once established.
Over the summer, you can keep up with developments related to farmers markets in Altadena by following us at our facebook page (www.facebook.com/AltadenaUrbanFarmersMarket). And we hope to hear your ideas! Post them on our page, or write to us at arroyotimebank@gmail.com.
