The city of Riverside slowly blinks awake as college students return to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) for their winter quarter. As classes begin and homework starts to pile up, students become restless and their desire to escape the confines of classrooms grows stronger. On Jan. 9, Farmhouse Collective brought one such escape. On this day, an auspicious warmth was felt, heralding the grand opening of the Farmhouse Collective’s farmers market.
The Farmhouse Collective’s proximity to campus makes it a prime, accessible location for UCR students. Having attended both this and the downtown Riverside farmers market, I can confidently say that this market will delight students just as much, if not more, than the market downtown.
This market offers products from familiar vendors such as Palo Alto’s Honey, Old Town Baking Company and Tea Rose House. However, I noticed some food trucks I had never seen before, such as Crepes Tree, a sweet and savory crepe truck and Deliziosas Pupusas. As I kept exploring, I also spotted Jessie and Sky, a stall that sold gorgeous waterproof jewelry and hair accessories.
The highly anticipated grand opening was made possible due to the hard work, dedication and collaboration between Local Hope, Oscar G. De León and the Bailey Family.
Local Hope is a nonprofit that has been lending aid in Guatemala for 33 years. CEO Leslie Baer Dinkel explained that the organization offers “very high quality, free medical care to those who can’t afford it, access to education, and [provides] wrap-around social services.” A percentage of the sales from the farmers market will go towards supporting Local Hope, however, if you would like to support Local Hope, Dinkel encourages students to reach out and inquire about volunteering.
Creative director and co-founder of Farmhouse, Kyler Bailey, noted that this market was “a core part of the vision, and we wanted to launch it as soon as we opened.” From there, the Bailey Family reached out to Dinkel and Local Hope who were eager to join forces. “We were all on the same page about building strong communities,” Dinkel expressed. “We started working together [and] brought Oscar De León [who] is certainly the finest [farmers] market manager in the Inland Empire.”
Oscar De León has been organizing farmers markets in Riverside and San Bernardino counties for 30 years, and his passion for these events is stronger than ever. De León mentioned, “Every market is a great project in any community because it supports local farmers, entrepreneurship and local arts. Not to mention that we try to make it affordable for low-income families… That’s what excites me the most, because I work for the vendors. I work for the farmers, the food vendors and the arts and crafters. My job is to make sure that they make a living, and it makes me happy that they have another successful location to go to.”
The Farmhouse Collective farmers market ultimately aims to bring back human connection. “I love community gathering places, and I think that we’ve lost community gathering places because of the way that we now buy things over the internet, and a lot of our brick and mortar places have gone away. We’re human beings. We need community, and we’re healthier and happier when we have community. [We] can come here and buy nutritious, locally grown foods […] and have community time with each other,” Dinkel insisted.
Bailey urges us to come and experience the sense of community ourselves, as he stated: “I would love UCR students to just visit the market. To make it part of their weekly routine, to bring back some fresh and good quality products.”
Whenever you have time and want to escape the dread that accompanies classes and homework, the Farmhouse Collective farmers market will be waiting for you every Friday from 10 a.m to 3 p.m, rain or shine.
