MLK Jr. Community Hospital in South LA adds farmers market to campus

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A new weekly farmers market in South Los Angeles is providing a healthy new option for residents looking to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables to their diet.

The farmers market at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital campus held its grand opening on Wednesday. The market will be open every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Area resident Leona Greenwood bought honey sticks for her tea as a sugar substitute.

"The market is good for me, first of all because I live very close," she said. "I have a 12-year-old, and it's good for him, too."

The market offers fresh eggs, fruits, vegetables and more.

Some residents say they can't always tell how fresh the produce is at discount grocery stores. So, the farmers market opens up a new door to healthy eating.

"The produce there, we don't know how old it is. But here, you basically feel like it's fresh. They may have just picked it last night. So I like the fresh food," Greenwood said.

There's even ways to make fresh food affordable with Market Match, which is a program that provides a dollar-for-dollar exchange for food stamps to be used at the farmers market vendors.

"Every time I tell them, they're so happy. They're like, 'Oh, my god, you just made my day,'" said a Market Match spokesperson.

"This is a way to build community and meet our objectives of creating a first rate wellness center here on the MLK campus," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital campus just opened a few years ago on East 120th Street. Now, it will include this new farmers market once a week.

"I predict that this will be one of the most exciting and well supported markets, farmers market in whole of L.A. County. I have no doubt about it, and I'm here with this strawberry to prove it," Ridley-Thomas said.

The market will offer healthy options at a good price year-round.