Farmer’s Market a Great Success at La Primaria

Farmer’s Market a Great Success at La Primaria

    La Primaria Elementary School’s inaugural Farmer’s Market, sponsored by the City of Hope and local farmers, was a great success.  The Farmer’s Market provided community members the chance to purchase fruits and vegetables locally, and also enabled students the opportunity to experience running a business.  The students did a wonderful job managing the event and selling the organic fruits and vegetables and reusable shopping bags they made out of t-shirts. 

     Leading up to the Farmer’s Market, La Primaria’s student leaders received training on running a Farmer’s Market from Alan Melgoza-Calderón, an urban farmer and Americorps VIP Fellow working with the City of Hope.  The students were excited to learn about running a business and taking on the roles of cashier, sales representative and marketing manager.  They also learned about inventory, quality control, pricing and customer service. 

      “It is really fun working the Farmer’s Market and running our business,” said Christine, a fifth grader who was in charge of the Bok Choy and Yu Choy.  “We learned a lot about fruits and vegetables, pricing and making sure we inspect the products and that they are fresh and good.”

     La Primaria teachers, Janette Salce and Nora Eskew coordinate the school’s Farmer’s Market and are thrilled with the partnership with the City of Hope. 

      “We are grateful to the City of Hope and our local farmers for sponsoring our Farmer’s Market and allowing all the proceeds to go to our school,” said Salce.  “The extra funds from the market will help with field trips, incentives and other enrichment activities for our students.” 

        “Our students are learning valuable lessons regarding running a business and other important life skills such as responsibility, organization, punctuality, confidence and more,” said Eskew.  “We are very proud of them and our school is excited to host the Farmer’s Market.”    

      As shoppers browsed the tables the students were happy to share their knowledge and even some recipes using the fruits and vegetables they were selling which included broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, oranges, Asian pears, lemon grass, bell peppers, Japanese eggplant and much more. 

         Fifth graders, Lily and Amy were doing a great job as sign spinners in front of the school advertising the Farmer’s Market.  They even choreographed a dance with their signs to draw customers in. 

       “We really enjoy our work!” said Lily.  “We get to help people eat healthy and we get to support our school.  It’s just great,” she said. 

        As the Farmer’s Market drew to a close, the students were very excited that most of the items sold out and they are eager to increase their inventory for their next event at the end of February.

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