Altadena Heritage to Sponsor Potential Farmer's Market

The Altadena Heritage nonprofit has agreed to sponsor a farmers market at that is still in the planning stages.

The agreement is a big step toward making the market happen, according to Joseph Shuldiner, the county's selected manager for the market.

The farmer market proposal for Loma Alta was .  After having , in , the director of the Los Angeles-based Institute of Domestic Technology, who also had involvement in the Altadena Urban Farmers Market

Then from August to November of last year, both the county and its selected market manager repeatedly said the agreement on the market was imminent.

This week, both Shuldiner and Al Evans, of the Parks and Recreation Department, again told Patch that the market agreement is going to get done.

Shuldiner said that having Altadena Heritage sponsor the market is a key step for the agreement.  Certified farmers markets require sponsorship from either a nonprofit or a government body, he added.

Previously, the plan had been for the county to sponsor the market, but having Altadena Heritage do it is a better financial arrangement for vendors, Shuldiner said.

The delays surrounding the market have mostly been about money, he added.  He said that with the county as a sponsor, they would have taken too large a percentage of the market's profits to make the venture profitable.

"It didn't make sense to me financially," Shuldiner said of the idea of having the county sponsor the market.

What has been frustrating, Shuldiner said, is that Altadena Heritage would have been happy to step in months ago if the county had suggested it.  He said the Parks and Recreation Department has "slowed the process down" and said the market's timeline is "hinging on the Parks Department."

Evans also characterized the delays as having to do with financial negotiations.  He said the county has "no latitude" to "minimize fees" because it is locked into an established fee structure.

Evans and Shuldiner both noted that they are scheduled to meet next week to continue to work on getting a deal done.

If the two sides can come to an agreement, the market would be on Wednesdays from 3 p.m to 7 p.m.  The idea behind the market would be not just to sell to individual consumers, but to bring in local restaurant owners who want fresh produce for their kitchens, Shuldiner said.

Shuldiner has previously announced tentative commitments from the following vendors:

• The Garden of….." produce/flowers (Los Olivos)
• Mother Moo Creamery, natural/artisanal ice cream (Sierra Madre)
• Drake Family Farms, goat cheese, 
• Kenter Canyon Farms, produce
• Los Angeles Bread Bakers, a local bread collective who will be milling fresh heirloom organic Sonora wheat flour onsite."