Long Beach’s newest farmers market will take place from 8 a.m. to noon every Thursday in the parking lot on the corner of Fourth Street and Cherry Avenue, starting June 5.
The Fourth Street farmers market will focus on selling produce curated for local chefs and community members. Vendors will include Bernard Ranches, Blacksheep Farms, Long Beach Mushrooms, Fernadez Dates and others.
The market will give local restaurants a place to shop but also boost business for nearby shops, according to the market’s organizers — Kerstin Kansteiner, Philip Pretty and Kelli Johnson.
The goal, they said, is for people to come get their produce, then go to one of the neighboring spots to get lunch or shop. The only vendor that won’t be selling produce is the well-known local bakery, Hey Brother Baker, which was specially requested by one of the organizers.
“We don’t want to be competing with the community. We want to be a part of it,” said Johnson, who is the market director for Harbor Area Farmers Markets, which runs a few farmers markets throughout Long Beach.
The market’s other two organizers also have deep ties to Long Beach. Kansteiner owns the nearby Alder & Sage coffee shop, and Pretty is the head chef and co-owner at Michelin Star-winning Heritage restaurant.
Heritage prides itself on only using locally sourced ingredients and sustainable practices, part of why Pretty has been going to farmers markets throughout his entire career.
“It’s always kind of been ingrained into what I do. Cooking seasonally and following the seafood up and down the coast is really important to us, because it’s the best and easiest way to get delicious things without having to do anything to them,” Pretty said.
The Fourth Street farmers market was originally designed for chefs to be able to get fresh produce to use in their restaurants every week without having to go too far. Over time, it’s turned into something more.
“It started as one thing and grew into something bigger and became a real community-driven project,” Pretty said.
Beyond catering to chefs looking for produce for their restaurants, the goal of the farmers market is to make fresh food accessible to people in the community.
Unlike the nearby Bixby Park farmers market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the Fourth Street farmers market will accept EBT and WIC in the coming weeks. They are also working on setting up Market Match, according to Johnson, which will allow SNAP recipients to spend $15 on their EBT card and get $30 worth of produce.
“We want to be able to provide good opportunities for people to shop for fresh produce,” Johnson said.
The new market will also offer an option to order a pre-packed box filled with a variety of fresh produce from Weiser Family Farms for those who don’t have time to shop in person. Orders made by 5 p.m. every Tuesday can be picked up at the market or at Alder & Sage until 8 p.m. The $50 farm boxes can be ordered online at goodveg.org.
Keeping the market as green as possible was another priority of the organizers. It will be the first farmers market in Long Beach that will not use any plastic bags, Kansteiner said.
Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own reusable bags, and tote bags will be given out for free during the first market. Paper bags will also be available.
“We will completely be zero waste, and hopefully people will take to it and understand how important it is,” Kansteiner said.
More information about the farmers market, including details about parking options, can be found on the market’s Instagram page @fourthstreetfarmersmarket.