Market Grows on Torrance : Three Years Later, Success Dispels Fears

When the idea of establishing a farmers market in Torrance was first proposed, a few City Council members feared that it would bring in “the wrong crowd.”

They envisioned peddlers and drifters invading the city every week, recalls Ron Littlefair, who had gone to a council meeting to express support for the market.

But this week, as the Torrance Certified Farmers Market celebrated its third anniversary, there were no rotten apples spoiling the fun.

“They thought this would bring in a bad group of people,” said Littlefair, one of 20 volunteers at the market. “Well, look at us now.”

Amid the anniversary festivities Tuesday--which included balloons, the Torrance Kitchen Band and a red-haired, big-shoed clown--about 40 farmers unloaded crates of fresh apricots, oranges, apples, peaches and an assortment of other products from their trucks. Men in business suits, children, teen-agers and women with babies came away from the makeshift stalls with bags, boxes and shopping carts brimming with produce.

Cars inched into the packed lot at Charles H. Wilson Park on Crenshaw Boulevard while workers on their lunch break strolled up to a hot dog vendor.

Produce sold at the market, which operates from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday, comes from small, family-run farms, according to the market’s manager, Rose Munoz. Family members usually sell the produce.

“The market also gives the city a sense of community,” she said. “It’s just a fun place to be on Tuesdays.”

Directly From Farmer

Munoz said customers are guaranteed that they are buying directly from the farmer, which usually means that the produce is sold from its original crate. Some of the fruits and vegetables may not be as big or polished as those in the local supermarket, but the California Department of Food and Agriculture makes sure that all the produce is safe and free of harmful pesticides.

Customers can save between 10% and 30% by shopping at a farmers market, Munoz said, citing a recent study by the food and agriculture department.

There are four other farmers markets in the South Bay--in Gardena, Inglewood, Redondo Beach and San Pedro--all of which are licensed by the state. The Torrance market is run by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

When the market first opened, it had only 26 farmers. Since then the number has doubled, and this year, Munoz expects that for the first time, the 5% stall fee charged to vendors will make the market fully self-sufficient. On a typical day the market sells $15,000 in produce, Munoz said.

But the market’s biggest asset is its family atmosphere, said Leslie Akers, who joins her mother, Joy, almost every week to sell produce from the back of a small pickup truck.

Since January the mother-daughter team has been coming to Torrance to sell avocados, apples and plums they grow on their 20-acre farm at Rancho California, near Temecula.

“It’s great. You walk around in your apron, and the other farmers will trade you whatever they have for whatever you are selling,” said Leslie Akers, who is on summer break from Brigham Young University. “It’s just like the old days.”

The Akers family also sells produce to commercial buyers, but Akers says it is much more fun and profitable to sell at the farmers market.

“It’s just really enjoyable,” she said as she offered a visitor an apple.

Variety of Items

Fruits and vegetables are not the only things found at the farmers market. Plants, flowers, honey, nuts and bread were also sold in bulk quantities.

Another mother-daughter team, Sharon Ishibashi and her 16-year-old daughter, Michelle, sell flowers picked on their 10-acre family farm in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Ishibashi said that although the customer saves money by buying directly from the farmer, the farmer also benefits by not having to share the profits with a middle-level handler. She said she earns at least 50% more profit by selling at the farmers market.

But she said she also benefits from the hospitality of her customers. “The people here are really nice and they appreciate what you bring them,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.”