Fruitful Collaboration Benefits All at SEE-LA’s Atwater Village Farmers’ Market

For the past 12 years, vibrant laughter, smiling faces, sun hats and babies in strollers have graced the corner of Glendale Boulevard at Larga Avenue on Sunday mornings. The Atwater Village Farmers’ Market— run by the nonprofit organization Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA)—offers a sense of home to its guests. There is an earthy smell of fresh produce mixed with the food that customers can buy to eat as they shop. Regulars treasure the visual appeal of multiple stalls and their wares, the leisurely pace of the customers as they peruse the market and the sound of mingling conversations.

At the stall where the Kenchan Ramen do-it-yourself kits were displayed, I stopped a moment to check them out and chatted with the vendor. Impressively pinning me as an avid viewer of NBC’s “The Bachelorette,” she suggested purchasing a pack to share with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, to host a girls’ night of ramen and TV roses. (Also, how did she pin me so quickly as an avid viewer?)

But this market serves a greater purpose than providing dinner for my girls’ night. SEE-LA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides nutrition education, food access and opportunities for small regional farms and local small businesses to thrive using sustainable food systems. The farmers’ market program encapsulates this mission quite well. At the markets, customers can use such benefits as CalFresh EBT (formerly known as food stamps), as well as Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks (FMNP). Even better, Market Match—California’s healthy incentive program that matches EBT funds with additional market dollars—is offered at all SEE-LA markets.

Interim co-directors of the program Elizabeth Bowman and Cara Elio operate a network of seven community- based certified farmers’ markets in Los Angeles, including Hollywood, Baldwin Hills and the LA River in DTLA.

The duo also champions programs that provide extensive nutrition education to low-income families and to children in underserved schools. At the Atwater Village market, representatives from SEE-LA host a booth meant to educate the public on the health benefits of seasonal market produce.

Bowman has been with SEE-LA on and off since 2012, beginning with the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, founded in 1991. Her responsibilities include overseeing market managers, health educators, nutritionists, program leaders and on-site teams to assist during the day, totaling around 35 staff members. Duties for the on-site teams include setting up the market fair, trash cans, signage and booths plus educating the public. There is a lot of physical labor needed at each market. Shifts begin early in the morning when workers come into an empty space, then fill it up with everything needed, only to break it down hours later after the market closes in the afternoon.

Gustavo Jimenez, a vendor who owns Jimenez Family Farm with his wife, Marcie, produces grass-fed meats and sausages and seasonal vegetables and fruits, and raves about the warmth and accessibility of the SEE-LA team. “I’m very happy with the organization. All the people are very nice,” he says. “I leave at 4am to drive from Santa Ynez and arrive around 7:15am, and the team helps me put everything out together.” Jimenez has been selling his produce at the Atwater market for more than 10 years and describes it as “a well-oiled machine.”

Other than providing quality foods, there is a strong sense of stability with SEE-LA. Some say that with the restrictions that COVID-19 produced, farmers’ markets have been a strong pillar throughout the chaos we’ve been through. Bowman acknowledges the heightened challenges while doing community-facing work during COVID, and the need to give the staff the appropriate training through unstable times.

“Our utmost responsibility was to meet those challenges while maintaining the team’s sense of safety and productivity. We did what we had to do,” she says.

Everett Davall, farmer/owner of Dates By Davall, agrees. “SEE-LA worked hard to keep the market open throughout quarantine, and customers found peace of mind with good quality and sustainable food,” he says. “SEE-LA works hard to keep vendors here and bring the best of the best to the market. We are honored to be a part of a system that provides quality food, and to be a reliable resource.”

SEE-LA’s nutritional classes are open to the public at the markets and at different community sites across Los Angeles County. Events in the community, such as recipe demonstrations led by health educators, “focus on building basic skills that enable participants to confidently make healthy nutrition choices.”

Collaborations with other sustainably focused organizations include L.A. Compost, which does pickups at the markets, and Urban and Environmental Institute at Occidental College, which partners with SEE-LA to ultimately increase access to fresh produce in low-income and low-food-access communities while providing an enhanced market opportunity for regional farmers. Occasionally, Prosperity Market (a farmers’ market/food truck on wheels) partners for pop-up events at the Hollywood market.

• Atwater Village Farmers’ Market, open every Sunday from 9am to 2pm, is located at 3528 Larga Ave. in Public Parking Lot 646, Los Angeles. Their updated Farmers’ Market list is available at SEELA.org.