Tiny But Mighty
By Néya Sridhar
Every Saturday, the organization Farm Habit hosts a local farmers market in Playa Vista for the community. Many businesses, varying from selling jewelry to food were interviewed to gain insight on the perks of having a booth at the farmers market. Businesses, namely Stepladder Ranch and Creamery, K.Leone Jewelry, L8 Bloomers were open to being interviewed about the farmers market.
Playa Vista Farmers Market
Molly Rocklen, marketing manager of the Playa Vista farmers market, gave statistics on the market and how she runs it. “To choose the vendors, we break it down into artisans, food vendors, both hot food and prepackaged food and farmers who sell their produce. There are 80 vendors here, so this keeps me on my toes,” she said.
Rocklen explained how the Playa Vista farmers market is unique. Rocklen says, “This [farmers market] is fun since it’s based on the Playa Vista community. Our foot traffic is really heavy, we get an average of 280 people that walk through every 30 minutes. We are open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Once we open the gates, everyone floods in.”
Playa Vista Farmers Market
When asked about what the company considers when trying to figure out which vendors to allow, Rocklen explained, “We try to keep the vendors small scale, early starting and entrepreneurial businesses. They are all local as well.”
Food at farmers markets are known for being nutritious. Rocklen elaborated, “Most of the farmers practice organic farming techniques. When you shop here, you’re getting better produce. Sometimes it’s more expensive, but it’s so much better for you.”
Stepladder Ranch and Creamery sells local cheese and meats. Taavi Wolff, who manages farmers market operations for the business, also discussed nutritious benefits. Wolff described, “Mass industrial made cheeses taste very different. A lot of the process is different. The rinds on all of the cheeses are grown naturally as part of the aging process, a lot of industrial ones use chemical sprays that artificially grow the rinds.”
“We do most of our business at farmers markets. Our customers really value local and small batch cheese, meat and honey,” she remarked.
Playa Vista Farmers Market
Farmers markets have great success in selling items. Wolff elaborated, “We don’t have a store. We are selling products only made on our farm, so we sell at farmers markets or online locally. We also sell to restaurants and local grocery stores, but it’s the best here.”
Kristine Leone, owner of K. Leone Jewelry, talked about total items sold at the farmers market compared to online sales. Leone said, “[Selling] here is better, simply because photography for jewelry is really hard because of the glare and flash. It is hard unless you spend money on a professional. I have some sales online. I would have more if I did social media, but it’s just not in me.”
L8 Bloomers; Photo by Neya Sridhar
Lorey Zlotnick, owner of L8 Bloomers, talks about her store. “This is it. You’re looking at the store. It pops up here and it pops up in other farmers markets around town. It’s a passion, but it’s also a business. Like all things, you have to work hard,” she said.
By shopping at a farmers market, people can experience true care and passion from the vendors. Zlotnick expressed, “All the little kids come up and play with my plants and worry stones. I’ve watched these kids grow up for the last five to six years. It’s fun to be a part of that fabric.”
“If you have the need for creative expression, farmers markets are a great place to do it,” Zlotnick concluded.
CONTACTS:
K.Leone Jewelry:kleonejewelry@gmail.com, +1 (214)-478–8850
Farm Habit: info@farmhabit.com
Stepladder Ranch and Creamer: @stepladdercreamery, www.stepladdercreamery.com
L8 Bloomers: lorey@l8bloomers.com, 1+(310)-415–8838
