The South Walkway between the Loker Student Union and the library comes to life with everything from fresh fruits, vegetables, pupusas, and tamales to handmade clothing.
The Farmers Market started in 2019 through a partnership with market organizer VenaVer Events and the CSUDH Office of Sustainability.
There are several ongoing promotions to help make the market more affordable for shoppers. Market Match, a nutrition incentive program through CalFresh provides a dollar for dollar match, up to $20, for shoppers who use their EBT card at the market.
“Anyone that has EBT, if they come and spend at least $20 of their EBT benefits, they get an extra $20 for free to use for the fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Evelin Tamayo, VenaVer’s director of operations.
CalFresh has a table at the Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m to inform students about nutrition assistance programs. These services are designed to help low-income individuals and families.
To apply for CalFresh contact the team at calfresh@csudh.edu, or make an appointment at dh-calfresh.appointlet.com to submit an application.
One of the main goals of the market is to provide high quality produce. “They grow what they sell, they don’t use any chemicals, and everything’s grown locally,” said Tamayo, regarding the vendors at the Farmers Market.
Farmers must comply with Los Angeles County Health Department regulations and are certified by the county, state and city. Only vendors who are licensed and permitted to sell their products are allowed at the market.
Vendors are not allowed to resell their products and they cannot sell products that are out of season. The vendors invest a tremendous amount of effort in preparing their products for the market. Rufino, who runs a produce stand called Great Day Farms, wakes up at 3 a.m in order to prepare his products.
“[I] load everything, make sure everything comes, the canopies, tables, everything,” Rufino said. “And I come here at 6 [in the morning].”
Isaias runs Simply Natural, a handmade soap and candle stand. It takes Isias two days to make his products. On day one, he mixes the ingredients and lets the soaps sit overnight. On the second day he cleans, labels and packages the soaps. Isaias usually makes 150 to 200 soaps per sitting.
His best-selling soaps are the honey-milk and oatmeal bar, the eucalyptus bar, the aloe vera bar, the chamomile bar, and the goat’s milk bar.
Itzel Morales, a freshman at CSUDH, visited the Farmers Market for the first time and enjoyed the pupusas. Regarding other vendors she would like to see. “Maybe more sweets like crepes and empanadas,” said Morales.
“Definitely more fresh fruit vendors, some people sell out and there would be more options” said Senior Stephanie Hernandez who goes to the Farmers Market for the organic fruit.
