Westwood Village Farmers Market
Sundays, 10am - 3pm
1083 Broxton, Los Angeles
Westwood Village is a neighborhood with a lot of pros and cons. On one hand, it is a busy walking community with plenty of restaurants and shopping, and of course the famous Mann Village Theater. On the other hand, it is impossible to navigate by car, and even more impossible to find parking, let alone free parking. Unfortunately, the Westwood Village Farmers Market is suffering from this same mixture of good and bad.
Westwood used to have a hopping farmers market on Thursday evenings on the corner of Weyburn and Westwood Boulevard. Some discrepancy with permits or certification closed it down, and for a few years the village was market-less. Now the market on Sunday mornings on the quiet Broxton Avenue is smaller in both offerings and attendance, perhaps suffering from the soiled reputation of its predecessor, perhaps from the demographic of the neighborhood (all students, none of which will wake up on Sunday and walk to the Village because of hang-overs or a lack of caring).
It is a shame more vendors were not at this market, which was humbly comprised of a tiny one-sided row of a few vegetable and fruit stands, a few crafts and that was about it. Corn is finally coming in and more avocados, making selection and prices much better than in previous weeks. The Westwood market definitely is not lacking in the essentials and you will find everything on your basic shopping list, but there are not enough vendors to get any real competition going as far as selection. Unfortunately, there were no booths with prepared food, likely due either to another permit problem, or perhaps too much competition from the various restaurants in Westwood.
The market is sponsored or founded or supported by Destination Green, a n organization whose goal is to advance environmentally-friendly local commerce events. They are idealistic about keeping the farmers market an actual farmers market with organic foods actually produced by local farmers in order to lessen the carbon footprint between the farm and the kitchen. This is something which not all local farmers markets can boast of, and yet another reason why the Westwood market should have more of a following.
One gem at this market were the handmade soaps of Iyamah Naturals by Angie Wilson. She only sells her line at the Westwood market, which goes for a few of the other vendors as well. So hopefully with this blatant plug for their items, more people will show up for the modest little market and help them out.
Much more busy were the many restaurants facing the small market, full of brunchers with the right idea. Broxton is one of the quaintest streets in Westwood, why not make a morning of it and get your produce, go to brunch, enjoy the atmosphere and so forth? Sunday morning is the best time to do anything in Westwood, as all of the nearby UCLA students are still sleeping and not hogging the metered parking, which is free on Sundays.
You’ll notice this review does not talk much about food, a clear reflection of the sheer lack thereof. You will find whatever you really need here, but it somehow lacks that inspiration feeling of abundance and plenty that makes you want to buy and cook and be a farmer. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the Westwood farmers market there just is not much to it, which is its main problem. Westwood itself is a fairly alluring draw, so hopefully over time this market will benefit from it and serve the neighborhood with a bit more to offer.
Photos by Shelby Chambers
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