Politics & Government
Still No Farmer's Market Contract for Loma Alta
The county has identified its vendor, Altadena Urban Farmer's Market co-organizer Joseph Shuldiner, but with no contract yet signed, there is no clear timetable on when the market will start.
The proposed farmers' market at , which county officials had hoped to start in October, is still up in the air with no agreement yet signed between the county and its selected vendor.
Joseph Shuldiner--the director of the Los Angeles-based Institute of Domestic Technology, who also had involvement in the Altadena Urban Farmers Market--was identified over the summer as the vendor who would run the market, but Shuldiner and the county have not yet signed an agreement, according to Al Evans of the County Parks and Recreation Department.
Evans told Patch he hopes to have a contract signed within the next few weeks and to be able to officially announce the market at November's Altadena Town Council meeting. Whether the market could start up in November or not is difficult to predict, he said.
Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Shuldiner wrote Patch last week saying he was meeting with the county on Monday and hoped to have a contract soon.
Evans said the delays have been because of a "number of different permits and issues" but did not go into further detail.
Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The new market is planned for Wednesday afternoons, and 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."
The county has been pushing for a market at Loma Alta since last January when the Town Council voted to request the consideration of a market at that site. The original timetable was for it to start in April, but the vendor picked to run the market pulled out of consideration to run it. Prior to that, there had been months of discussion about a market in .
Over at the Pasadena Sun, Altadenablog editor Tim Rutt has a good summary of the whole market process, as well as some more on Shuldiner's background.
Related:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
