Lemon Grove Farmer’s Market
Sadly, the Farmers Market is getting smaller and smaller.
Today, my friend wanted to buy honey but the honey people didn’t come.
I go every week and bring friends. I even did a marketing training for the people who are supposedly running the market.
They haven’t done a thing yet.
So sad.
Another project run by a nonprofit set up to NOT be successful.
First mistake: hiring a manager with a long history of starting failing markets.
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Hmm... Is it time for Marianne to make her own farmer's market?
;) Lol that sounds like a LOT of work for an already super busy chick!
We're headed to ours on Saturday. Super excited.
I have been sitting on my hands to not volunteer for the market project. It is founded and directed by a non- profit that is administering a grant that was given to Lemon Grove from a huge health care provider. I was part of the original steering committee and spend a lot of my time banging my head against the wall. So frustrating to see the money go to administration and printing and bull like that. From the original 1 million dollar grant, the citizens got one walking path in a park that was given to the cheapest contractor who did a shitty job.
This is part of the next phase of the grant and the person they hired to start the market has already started a bunch of markets - that pretty much all failed. I did give them a presentation on how to promote with all kinds of ideas how to get the people involved and engaged - so far, I haven't even gotten the flyers yet to put on my little library which many people frequent. No Instagram campaign, Facebook, anything. So frustrating!!!
But I have better things to do than to bang my head against stone walls...
Exactly. No sense trying to teach someone that doesn't want to learn. Your contributions won't go unrecognized by folks that are serious about the project. If it does go under, I bet your yard will be the new market ;)
That's sad to hear about misappropriated funds.
Well, they all seemed to be spent in a fine way with the project donor. They thought that 100,000 in printing cost was okay. Just many of the activists that were excited and involved in the project felt that a) nobody was really interested in our opinion and b)that the community got very little out of the deal... Oh well.
One of the framers is very local and I always will support him. Maybe, once I have finished some of my projects, I revive that Organic Edibles Garden Club I used to run. But all of that is a lot of work and right now, I feel I want to work on my own stuff for a while :)
I feel all farmers markets are dwindling in the vendor department, including the Little Italy one!
NO!!!!! Little Italy was/is one of the big ones!!!
A lot of my favorite vendors seem to be gone :(
I actually make the drive up north to different ones. OC and LA have the best in my opinion💜
I haven't been to one in OC for a long time. But I used to be a regular in Costa Mesa when I was living in OC. And everything is bigger in LA LOL
But I want to buy and support local - so, driving to LA is not my jam.
What a shame. I love the idea of a market in my area as well and would go every weekend if I could but the people in charge of it aren't very good at running it. Like anything it takes work comma a willingness to advertise and network.
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For sure. There is so much what could be done and I put a whole marketing campaign together for them. Nothing is happening...
Well that's a pretty depressing tale @mariannewest. What a waste after all your hard work and no doubt other people's too.
I just don't get how these things happen. Why employ someone who's already failed at the same thing? And then why aren't they chasing them up for results?
Doesn't the Health Care Provider care how their money is being spent?
Glad to hear you're not banging your head against a brick wall about it but it must be very frustrating for you.
Well, the person who is hired to run it is embedded in the nonprofit world. It is kind of a circular thing. And big bureaucracies have a way of functioning that is incomprehensible to us people operating from a common sense and business approach.
Two different worlds with different sets of ideas of a positive outcome. All mean well, I am sure.