The much-awaited Westside farmer’s market debuted on Wednesday, July 29, at the Harding Elementary School grounds on West Valerio Street, with around 15 vendors showing up to sell their produce.
Starting the neighborhood market is part of an ongoing effort to encourage healthier eating habits among school age kids – as well as adults – and to recreate Harding as the hub of neighborhood activities it once was. In recent years, Harding administrators closed off its playgrounds to the public during weekends and after school hours because students there found needles, condoms, and human feces left behind by after-hour visitors. Harding is currently in the midst of dramatically re-inventing itself, and the opening of a new farmers market dovetails with that effort.