There has been another reason to visit Whittier Boulevard in recent weeks. On Saturday mornings, near the landmark Whittier Boulevard arch, a farmer’s market has brought fresh produce, music and community spirit to the area’s main shopping district.
“It gives attention to an area that hasn’t had much attention in years, if not a couple of decades,” said R. Joseph Cervantes an East L.A. photographer and artist that sells his art at the market. “Whittier Boulevard in East LA was known for its shops and active community. Over the years that has been lost a little.”
The East Los Angeles Certified Farmers Market, which is normally held at the East L.A. Civic Center, has been temporarily relocated and expanded for a 6-week run to a spot at Kern Street and Whittier Boulevard as part of the Shop East LA campaign.
The Eastmont Community Center, which sponsors the market, has worked with Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis to get more fresh produce to the community and bring more foot traffic to the brick-and-mortar stores along Whittier Boulevard.
We want “to spotlight brand new vendors, exhibitors, and individuals that unfortunately either lost their business during COVID or had a hard time starting their business” during a pandemic, said Isaias Hernandez the executive director of the Eastmont Community Center. “At the same time, hopefully, the visitors that come to our market trickle over to the boulevard corridor and see the rest of businesses that are established.”
The campaign also aims to give local residents greater access to fresh produce and healthy foods, which can often be more expensive and less available in lower-income communities. The farmers market also has an on-site clinic offering COVID-19 vaccinations and rapid health screenings, including checking blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol levels.
“The reception has been very welcoming, warm and responsive,” Cervantes, the photographer, said. Visitors “can actually view the work that is laid out and understand that there is another side of East Los Angeles that normally doesn’t appear as often.”
Cultural performances at the market have also promoted a sense of the community’s culture and history. For instance, visitors on Sept. 11 enjoyed the Ethio-Latin sounds of a local band, El Domingo, as they walked around, shopped or stopped for a break.
Joseluis Jimenez, the band’s frontman, said that it was an honor to play at the market, in the community he grew up in.
“Musically, there’s just been such a huge amount of iconography that kind of goes along with the music scene in East L.A.,” Jimenez said. “And so much of that is wrapped around Whittier Boulevard.”
Events like the farmers market can play an important role in building communal pride and lifting morale, said Belinda Martinez, a photographer and organizer of City Terrace’s art walk.
“We always have stigmas on our culture that we’re portrayed as criminals…so I think this event that was moved to the Whittier Boulevard shopping [area] is now going to leave a different impression on people that we can also do things that people on the Westside do.”
The East L.A. farmers market will continue operating on Whittier Boulevard through Oct. 2 before returning to the East L.A. Civic Center. But due to positive feedback from community members and vendors, Supervisor Solis’ office has started looking into ways to keep the market’s momentum going.
UT Community News covers public issues on the Eastside and South L.A.
