Other than the fact that it’s in a park, it looks like any other L.A. farmers market. There’s a cookie vendor, a coffee stand, a pupuseria. All sorts of people, young and old, pass from booth to booth, hauling fresh berries and carrots in reusable tote bags.
It looks outwardly like a success, if not a little under-crowded. But Dang says there’s one big thing that’s still missing: Asian produce. “We really need to bring in more culturally relevant vendors, especially people local to Chinatown who want to participate in the market,” Dang says.They say one of the biggest hurdles is that a lot of the Asian specialty farms are in Northern California, and it can be hard to convince a small family farm to make the trek on a weekday. But “it’s definitely my goal for the immediate future," Dang says.
Back at the Chinatown Service Center booth, Situ says she’s also working to find vendors who sell produce that Chinatown’s residents are used to cooking. But she reminds me: “This market is still a baby. We need time to make it work and build it up as something that can last for the community.”The L.A. River Farmers Market is held every Thursday at the L.A. State Historic Park, from 3:00 to 7:30 pm.We explain what makes L.A. tick so that you can navigate our complicated city.