Debra Bianco, president of Cornucopia which organizes the Malibu Farmers’ Market, said in last week’s paper she hopes the Market keeps growing. I hope this means the Market is finally open to all vendors, as long as their produce is from California farmers.
The first year the Market was open, I discovered a rose grower in Santa Barbara. I was enthusiastic about their unusual selections, and urged them to sell in Malibu at the Market. The woman at Rose Hill Gardens said she’d been told the Market was full and closed.
I couldn’t see how this was possible since there was only one flower vendor, the Cosentinos. That’s when Ms. Bianco told me the Cosentinos had demanded a monopoly on selling flowers, or they would have opposed the Market opening in Malibu.
Our Malibu Market deserves to thrive-with lots of vendors selling lots of fabulous stuff.
If Ms Bianco wants the Market to grow, it’s time that she opened it to all interested vendors.
Jo Giese