L.A. Farmers Markets
Santa Monica Farmers Market
Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays – 8:30 A.M.
Our favorite market, hands-down, is the Wednesday downtown Santa Monica market. This mid-week market has upwards of 90 farmers and a strong wholesale program. Santa Monica operates a smaller Saturday market at the same location and is growing another at Virginia Park. The Main Street Sunday market is family-friendly and offers the most prepared foods from Main Street merchants.
Hollywood Farmers Market
Sundays – 8:00 A.M.
This super-sized Sunday market has plenty of prepared foods on its outskirts and a significant number of our favorite farmers. From Weiser Family Farms to Florabella, you can find all of your seasonal produce needs here. Hollywood is run by SEE-LA, an organization that operates large markets like Hollywood to support smaller markets in underrepresented areas of L.A.
Mar Vista Farmers Market
Sundays – 9:00 A.M.
This busy Saturday market is a local favorite, and manager Diana Rodgers has a great mix of well-known farmers and rotating vendors who bring pantry staples such as Koda Farms Rice. It features numerous farmers from all over California to bring fresh-picked and dried fruit, nuts, berries, greens, mushrooms, veggies, grass-fed meats and cheeses, sustainably raised chicken, pork, lamb, and other offerings direct from the farm.
Torrance Farmers Market
Tuesdays & Sundays – 8:00 A.M.
Like Santa Monica, this market is run by their city. The Torrance market runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and super-manager Joyce curates a delicious mix of farmers for both days. The market features a year-round selection of California-grown fruits, nuts, vegetables, eggs, honey, baked goods, fish, cut flowers, and nursery stock.
Atwater Village Farmers Market
Sundays – 9:00 A.M.
SEE-LA also runs this Eastside market and the Hollywood Farmers Market, and while smaller in size, hosts more than two dozen of Southern California’s highest quality local farms, including Givens, Sunrise Organic, and Kenter Canyon Farms – with their wide variety of organic herbs and lettuces.
South Pasadena Farmers Market
Thursdays – 4:00 P.M.
The award-winning South Pasadena Farmers Market brings certified, California-grown produce directly from local farms to you! The market has an inviting ambiance that shines under a canopy of towering trees where families, friends, and neighbors gather to enjoy the freshest produce, a diverse array of prepared food vendors, and live music.
Farmers Markets
Why We Love Them and You Should Too…
Strolling through a farmers market with money you’d usually spend at the grocery store has an impact greater than just better-tasting peaches. Farmers who sell directly to customers earn greater margins and have more autonomy than if they sold to packing houses. This allows them to focus on quality rather than high-yielding crops or grocery-store sizing requirements of items such as apples.
The Gourmandise School shoppers and instructors purchase most of our produce and some staples from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.
Fun Fact! We picked our school location because it’s within walking distance of the downtown market. Through our weekly visits to the market, we have developed relationships with many of the farmers.
The best Farmer’s Markets are those run by municipalities or non-profits. They try to have a high ratio of farmers to prepared food vendors. Our favorite markets are run by managers who pay attention to the right mix of farmers. These farmers bring everything from meat and fish to vegetables and berries.
We love supporting SoCal farmers’ markets, so we’ve listed many favorites below. Their management teams work hard to ensure vendors adhere to their booths’ certificates.
Farmers must submit where they are growing, what they are growing, and their practices on weed control and pesticides to the Agricultural Commission. These management teams also help chefs and wholesalers shop the market before it opens to the public.
