Vegetarians Rule at New Farmers’ Market

Veggie tamales are hot at the new Wellington Square Certified Farmers Market, and spice has nothing to do with it. The new market is vegetarian, and the usual fare filled with pork, chicken and beef are nowhere to be found. What you will discover are the hot-selling varieties filled with roasted green chilies, sweet corn and goat cheese.

The market, which has been open every Sunday since March, is the only certified farmers market out of 200 in Southern California that is entirely vegetarian. Although not kosher, the market’s absence of meat has already been noticed by some shoppers who observe some level of the dietary laws, or who are vegetarian or vegan.

“It’s quasi-kosher,” said Judy Katz, a recent Sunday morning shopper who finds the market convenient and likes the fact it is meatless. “It’s one of the reasons I’m here,” she said.

The market, which meets in the Smyrna Seventh-day Adventist Church parking lot at 4394 W. Washington Blvd., just west of Crenshaw Boulevard, in the historic West Adams neighborhood, was organized by co-managers, Kathy Lewis and Lora Davis to bring “good food into the neighborhood,” Davis said. That the market is vegetarian “came out of the request of the church,” the nonprofit market’s sponsor, Davis added.

“They have a huge belief in health,” Lewis said.

“We had been approached to have a market before,” church general manager Marva Berry said. “But because of the meat, we said ‘no.’ ” When she asked Lewis and Davis to keep the market meat-free, “they agreed,” Berry said.

Seventh-day Adventists look to many of the same Bible verses as Jews for what is acceptable to eat. They do not eat pork, other “unclean meats” or shellfish, and they believe that a vegetarian diet is healthier.

That the market can be held at the church on a Sunday is also a result of a convergence of Bible interpretation. Like Jews, Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset.

Only a few of the 20 to 25 merchants who sell produce and products at the market have had to make adjustments to sell at the meatless market. Mom’s Specialty Foods vendor Jacob Briseno said his company already sold Middle Eastern foods such as fresh tzatziki sauces, roasted garlic hummus, kalamata olives and halvah, that fit right in.

Ann’s Bakery of Port Hueneme was already baking various vegetarian products, including coconut macaroons made with vegetable oil or butter, and the shortening in Mid-City bakery La Maison du Pain’s raisin brioche pastries, as well as the rest of its baked goods, were also suitable for vegetarians.

Others, like Bohol in the Wall, a Filipino grill that usually sells barbecued beef and chicken skewers, have had to make some changes. At the Wellington Square market, Bohol offers “veggie patty specials” and a noodle dish, pancit, normally served with shrimp or sausages, for which chef Patrick Concon has created a tasty meatless tasty version.

Several vendors offer an array of fresh vegetables suitable for making carrot kugel or Israeli salad. And the purple and red anemones purchased there on a Sunday were still fresh several days later.
Wellington Square Certified Farmers Market is open Sundays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 4394 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. Free parking is available.