A saxophonist, left, provides
background music for Laguna Beach Farmers Market customers. At right, Michi Ward ensures berries at a farm booth are neatly displayed. She likes to walk through the market and make sure everything looks nice and tidy.
What do you enjoy most about the job? When the customers come in and they say, “We love coming here! This is our regular routine every week.” I’m so happy when they say they look forward to the market days. They appreciate coming because they’re getting their food fresh. Farmers pick the produce every day to get it to the markets. Farmers love it too because they like talking about what they grow with customers. I love being a market manager. It’s a pleasure to get to know a lot of customers and what I hear from them makes me happy. It’s a good feeling.
make sure everyone’s going to be there, and, if not, then I work to fill in that empty spot. I usually have extra tents in case one breaks and just try to help the farmers with whatever they need. What about after shoppers show up? I talk a lot with the customers and ask them what they would like to have at the market—what they like or don’t like. I always tell them, “Thanks for coming!” I’ll walk around and make sure everything looks really nice. So, like, if I see a piece of fruit that doesn’t look good, I’ll pull it out and tell the farmer. Every hour or two, I’ll do another walk. If a vendor needs a bathroom break, I’ll watch their stand for them for five minutes. As the customers are leaving, I say, “See you next week!” When the market closes, all the vendors pay me their fee (a percentage of their sales). I’m usually the last one out. I make sure all the vendors leave things as clean as they were when they came.
Linda DuBois ldubois@californiabountiful.com
MORE ONLINE What has Michi Ward done to help farmers and shoppers weather the pandemic’s impacts? Find out at californiabountiful.com.
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