Page A14 • June 20, 2013 • Inland Empire Community Newspapers

Loma Linda Farmer’s Market Night offers variety, fresh produce

By Yazmin Alvarez

Hundreds turned out to pur-chase fresh produce andother fare at the grand

opening of Loma Linda FarmersMarket Night June 11.Market night, a collaboration be-tween Loma Linda UniversityHealth and the Loma Linda Cham-ber of Commerce, is offered Tues-day evenings in the parking lotalong the southeast corner of An-derson and Mound streets, in frontof the Loma Linda UniversityHealth Welcome Center.While organizers expected a largeturnout, the number of participantswas still a surprise."Although we knew that it wouldbe a success, the quick growth andinitial turnout still exceeded our ex-

pectations," said Andrejs Gale-nieks, a graduate student and healthpolicy analyst at Loma Linda Uni-versity Institute for Health Policyand Leadership. Since Loma Linda is such a tightknit community, organizers saidbringing a farmers market to thearea was important to keep commu-nity partnerships and relationshipsthriving. The hope is to grow themarket, much like other neighbor-ing cities have."The farmer's market is a productof Healthy Loma Linda efforts andpriority areas from communityworkshops such as the food envi-ronment and creating a city center,said Juan Carlos Belliard, assistantvice president of community part-nerships with Loma Linda Univer-sity.

Efforts to bring a market night tothe Loma Linda campus were in theworks for approximately sixmonths, organizers said, and the ef-forts are paying off since there al-ready is a high demand for vendorspots."Through a partnership betweenHealthy Loma Linda and the LomaLinda Chamber of Commerce,farmer market vendors in the areawere approached and invited to par-ticipate. It's been highly popularand starting with the first week,there was a waiting list for the ven-dors," Galenieks said.Market night features organic pro-duce, fresh fruits and vegetablesfrom local farmers, as well as pre-pared food, crafts and services fromlocal businesses and groups.Farmer’s Market Night is in addi-

tion to the Loma Linda Farmer’sMarket hosted by the Chamber,which will continue every Sundaymorning on Barton Frontage Road.So far, there has been a mix offresh produce, prepared food andcraft vendors, with the majority ofthem being local vendors, Belliardsaid.“As a certified farmer's market, allfresh produce is required to begrown locally (San Bernardino andRiverside counties). We would liketo see the market represent thehealth focus of the Loma Lindacommunity, offering fresh fruits,produce, and healthy food options,"he added. Funds raised through the LomaLinda Farmer's Market help sup-port the Chamber of Commerceand the growth of the market.

COURTESY PHOTO/LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY HEALTH

Farmers Market Night customers select fresh produce brought by area farmers for sale during the grand opening of Loma LindaFarmers Market Night.

COURTESY PHOTO/ LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY HEALTH

From Left: Andrejs Galenieks, graduate student and health policy analyst at LLU Institue HealthPolicy and Leadership; Juan Carlos Belliard, assistant vice president, community partnerships,Loma Linda University; Gary Nelson, of Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Rhodes “Dusty”Rigsby (partially hidden), mayor, city of Loma Linda; Dr. Richard Hart, president, Loma LindaUniversity Health; and Rodney Neal, senior vice president of finance for Loma Linda University,prepare to cut the ceremonial ribbon opening the new Loma Linda Farmers Market Night.

Loma Linda Farmer’sMarket Night

When: 5 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday’s

Where: Parking lot on the south-east corner of Anderson Streetand Mound Street, in front of theLoma Linda University HealthWelcome Center (the formerLoma Linda Post Office)