Making A Difference: Market Basket : A Fresh Link in the Food Chain

With few supermarkets nearby, inner-city residents often pay more for an inferior selection of fruit and vegetables. But a pilot program in Gardena is bringing the freshest seasonal produce direct from nearby farms at a price below even that of outdoor farmers’ markets. Called Market Basket, the program is a collaboration between the Southland Farmers’ Market Assn. and UCLA’s Department of Urban Planning, which received $35,000 in federal grants to fund it. Participating growers discount their prices 15% to low-income residents who pay for their “baskets” a week in advance.

“People who need it get access to fresh, high-quality produce and small farmersget some guaranteed money up front,” says Robert Gottlieb, a UCLA urban planninglecturer and co-founder of the project. Another consumer benefit, he says, is that participating growers often use fewer chemicals than agribusiness farms.

Nearly 50 low-income families have participated since the program began last October. “A number of seniors and disabled say they are interested, so Market Basket could mushroom if we can find a way to provide transportation or delivery,” says Gottlieb, who hopes to propagate the program at some of the other 18 farmers’ markets throughout Southern California.

THE CYCLE

1. Cultivating Customers: UCLA graduate student Michelle Mascarenhas tells Gardena churches and community groups about the program. Low-income residents can sign up at Hollypark United Methodist Church or by calling UCLA and sending a check to for a basket to be picked the following Saturday. The basic cost is $10. Those who can afford itpay $13 to subsidize $7 baskets for the neediest. Food stamps are accepted.

2. Plowing Ahead: Each week, Mascarenhas tallies the number ofparticipants and calls growers to tell them what she needs. Growers also let herknow what they have most of.

3. Digging In: Early Saturday morning, Mascarenhas or another UCLA student meets the growers at the Gardena Farmers’ Market. UCLA students and a few volunteers assemble the baskets (actually cardboard boxes) at Hollypark United Methodist Church,just across a parking lot from the market.

4. Reaping the Benefits: Residents pick up their baskets at the church. Volunteer Linda Clark also brings baskets to a drop-off site at Harbor-Gateway Community Center across town. Money is collected to pay for the next week’s share.

A PARTICIPANT’S PERSPECTIVE

“I used to sometimes go to the farmers’ market, as it’s the only fresh market around. But the discount really helps: Now I get a $10 basket every other week for my husband, Everett, and myself and can help subsidize another family. The food is so fresh and the variety so good that I’m eating better, like fruit for breakfast instead of cereal and toast.”--AGNES SNOWDEN, Los Angeles

A WEEK’S BOUNTY

Here’s what a typical $10 basket contained one recent Saturday: four oranges, four apples, four tangerines, two persimmons, a pound of grapes, two pounds of tomatoes

To Get Involved: Call (310) 825-2654.

Researched by PATRICIA A. KONLEY / For The Times