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Business & Tech

Laguna Niguel Farmers' Market Under Manager's Watchful Eye

Jennifer Griffith makes certain that only county-certified farms sell at the market and that they grow what they sell.

Laguna Niguel Farmers’ Market manager Jennifer Griffith left Oasis Organic Farms alone last week.  Oasis, here from Imperial County, is new to the market, and Griffith will give it a week to get settled in before she checks its certifications and verifies the produce for sale on its table. 

Griffith works for the Orange County Farm Bureau, the nonprofit trade organization representing member farmers in the county.  Orange County Farm Bureau sponsors the county’s certified farmers markets.  Griffith has been the manager of Laguna Niguel Farmers’ Market for its entire 15-year history. 

Farmers selling at the market pay 7½ percent of their proceeds to the farm bureau to cover the market’s administrative costs. 

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The Laguna Niguel Farmers’ Market, as well as the others sponsored by the farm bureau, are “certified markets,” meaning the county agricultural commissions of the participating farms’ home counties must inspect and verify that the produce sold is actually grown on each of the farms.  They then “certify” the farm, listing farm locations and the quantities and varieties of produce grown at each location.

Vendors at the market are forbidden to sell produce they didn’t grow themselves.  In addition, only the farmers or their employees can sell at the market—no middlemen are allowed.

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Cheating, however, is common, according to Griffith.  The on-site market managers, she says, are the front line of defense against vendors gaming the system. 

She regularly inspects the produce on each of the market tables and reviews each vendor’s certificate to ensure that everything on its table is listed and the quantities are appropriate to the amount they grow.

She also makes sure farmers’ representatives at the market are not misrepresenting the produce they sell.  She does not allow farms that are not certified organic to tell customers that they use no pesticides, for example. 

Organic or Conventional; There’s No in Between

Many small farms, while not certified organic, avoid conventional agricultural chemicals.  Some, like Berumen Boyz from Fountain Valley, are “transitional” farms—in the process of transitioning from conventional farming to organic.  During the transition period, these farms grow their produce using only organic methods, yet they are not allowed to advertise their produce as “pesticide free.”

“There are only two types of agriculture: organic and conventional.  You are one or the other,” Griffith said. 

She asks that customers report vendors making unsubstantiated claims. 

She will suspend farmers from the market if she believes they are making assertions not backed up by the information on their certificate.  Or stealing.

Not long ago, a market representative for a vendor disappeared abruptly from the market.

Based on the sales numbers and amount of produce on the table, Griffith suspected he was stealing.  She called the vendor and told the vendor to send someone else from now on.   

She forwards the more serious allegations of fraud and abuse to the Agricultural Commission.  Once it receives a complaint, it can send an inspector to the farm the next day. 

Next week, Griffith will look closely at Oasis Organic Farms’ market certificate and compare the quantity and variety of what it has for sale with what the Imperial County Agriculture Commission has certified.  She’ll make sure that the beautiful cauliflower and Swiss chard are exactly what the grower says they are—organic and grown on its farm in the Imperial Valley.

This Month:

  • Spring has sprung at the market, but winter's citrus continues to reign supreme. Cara Cara and Washington navel oranges, blood oranges, oro blanco grapefruit, pomelos, and Clementine and Paige tangerines spill over in market stalls.
  • I challenge you to find a better Fuji apple or a Bosc or Anjou pear than what you get at the market right now.
  • Atkins Farms is bringing tropical guavas, cherimoyas, sapotes and macadamia nuts from Fullerton.
  • You’ll also find cabbages as big as beach balls, bright-colored Swiss chard, mustard greens, fresh onions and leeks and, of course, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
  • There are Chinese and snap peas, varieties of lettuce, bacon avocados, and strawberries and strawberries and strawberries.
  • Oh, did I mention citrus?
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