Oak Park Farmers Market set to open Sat., May 9

The long-awaited Oak Park Farmers Market will be open weekly from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., beginning Sat., May 9, in the Oak Park Plaza shopping center on Kanan and Lindero Canyon roads.

The market will feature 25 to 30 local farmers selling flowers and produce, some of it organic. Parking will be available in the shopping center as well as along Kanan Road. As part of an earlier agreement, employees of the center's stores will park in the St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church lot to make room for market customers.

Items for sale will include tomatoes, cherries, peaches, plums, avocados, greens, organic nuts, hummus, gourmet breads, baked goods and strawberries from Oxnard. Every farmer will be certified by the California Agricultural Commission, which guarantees customers are buying directly from the grower, said Mark Rochin, a citrus farmer and market organizer. Certifications will be posted at each booth as required by state law, Rochin added.

"The agricultural commissioner actually goes to each farm to make sure that they have what they're selling," Rochin said. "The good thing about that is that you know where your food's coming from and you can ask the farmer himself if he used any pesticides, if you have any special concerns, when the next batch of produce is coming out."

Knowing where food originates is important in light of recent tainting, Rochin said.

"One of the problems with all that tainted food, shipped around from truck to truck, is that they had no idea where it came from," Rochin said. "Here you can talk directly to the farmer who grew what you're buying."

The new market will be different from those in Thousand Oaks and Calabasas in that it will not feature crafts—only fruit, vegetables, baked goods and flowers. Rochin describes the Oak Park market as being "quaint and intimate."

"There will be a lot of variety, but it just won't be as spread out as the other markets," Rochin said. "I wish it could be bigger, but that's all the county will allow given the space. I'm going to max it out, cram as many farmers in as I can."

It's the first time a farmers market has been held on county property and it took more than a year for approval.

"Buying locally supports Venturay County farmers and is a healthier, more environmentally friendly way for us to be consumers," said Linda Parks, Ventura County supervisor.

The Oak Park market is one of several operated by the Coastal Pacific Farmers' Markets. The others are in the Simi Valley Town Center, the South Bay Pavilion in Carson, Channel Islands in Oxnard, and in Northridge. The company has been running farmers' markets for 13 years.