> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Farmers’ Markets uproot the non-farmers amongst them - URL: https://www.smdp.com/farmers-markets-uproot-the-non-farmers-amongst-them/ - Published: 2007-08-02T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:26:27.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import *Farmers’ Market thins herd* DOWNTOWN Amid the hustle and bustle of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, where shoppers dig for the ripest avocado and tastiest tomato, there stands a rare sight — one man fixated on sharpening a pack of knives. Gary Silverstein, owner of Gary’s Knife Sharpening Service, plies his trade each week in a market packed with produce and meat. At present, he’s the only non-food vendor at the Wednesday edition of the market on Arizona Avenue. Soon, however, Silverstein will have to pack up his cleavers as organizers of the 26-year-old market begin phasing it into a food only event. In attempts to be fair to outsiders looking in, such as fortune tellers and other-non food vendors looking to participate in the bustling outdoor marketplace, City Hall is asking the three non-food vendors at the Downtown and Pico markets to leave by the end of October. Currently, Gary Kitpaszyan sells wooden spoons and Jim Derner sells soap at the Pico market, staged each Saturday at Virginia Avenue Park. The City Attorney’s Office decided to discontinue the practice of allowing the sale of non-food items after determining it would make City Hall vulnerable to lawsuits from vendors alleging it was playing favorites. In a letter sent by Farmers’ Market Supervisor Laura Avery to Derner on June 25, she details the reasoning behind the decision, which stems from the fact that the Downtown and Pico markets are held on public property. The Ocean Park Farmers’ Market, held on Sundays at the Victorian, is on private property. Constitutional law dictates that if city agencies allow some vendors to use public property, it cannot deny that right to other vendors, Avery states in the letter. A special law allows these agencies to use public ways to host farmers’ markets. “So, allowing the sale of produce and other foodstuffs at the city’s farmers’ markets does not mean that the city must allow other kinds of vendors to also engage in sales,” Avery writes. “However, once the city allows some non-food vendors to use public space... the city may lose its ability to restrict others from also using the market for commercial sales and other non-profit activities.” When Silverstein joined the Downtown market about three years ago, he always knew in the back of his mind that the day would come when he would be asked to leave for this very reason. Silverstein feels he’s been a nice complement to the market, offering a service to the shoppers while they roam through the piles of fruits and vegetables, and he holds no ill-will about leaving, adding that he had a “good run.” A sign stating that Silverstein offers nonagricultural services dangles from his tent, which is located on the east end of Arizona Avenue. Heading west, the majority of tents offer vegetables and fruits. Nearby, a woman selling fruit could be heard yelling, “special on peaches, a dollar a pound!” Silverstein intends to continue on at the Culver City and Mar Vista farmers’ markets, using his Wednesdays to develop his business, perhaps teaching others how to start a knife sharpening business. “I will take a financial hit, but that’s OK,” Silverstein said Wednesday, lounging back in a folding chair. Jackie Thompson, of Brentwood, brings her knives to the Downtown market once every six months, dropping them off before she starts to browse. “It’s so sad to hear they’re leaving,” she said on Wednesday. “I don’t know where I’ll take my knives.” YOU GROW IT, YOU SELL IT The notice from the City Attorney’s Office comes about seven months after several other vendors were told they had to stop selling goods whose main ingredient was not grown on their farm. Mike Moessner, of Moessner Orchard, whose tent is located right next to Gary’s Knife Sharpening Service, was asked to stop offering up blueberry puff pastries and marmalade jam. The orchard does not grow blueberries or oranges. “I have customers that come for specific items like the blueberry or marmalade,” Moessner said. “But I’m OK with it.” Avery said she wanted the vendors to go back to selling what they actually grow, adding that some of the vendors had, over the years, began expanding their inventory to include items purchased from another party. “If you buy it and resale it, it’s not the same as growing,” Avery said. Adams Olive Ranch was asked to stop selling a salami it had purchased from San Francisco and cured and pickled vegetables that it didn’t grow, such as jars of Habanero chiles and cauliflower. The ranch had been selling the salami for four years and the pickled and cured vegetables for more than a quarter century, said Alex, an Adams Olive Ranch employee who declined to give his last name. Though the ranch is barred from selling jars of capers — because the capers aren’t grown on the farm — it can sell olives stuffed with capers — Alex said. “People want to buy it, but I can’t sell it,” he said Wednesday. Gene Rubin of Sherman Oaks, who was shopping at the market on Wednesday, said he doesn’t see the point in banning certain products as long as they don’t make people sick. “I think the market itself should determine what should or should not be here,” Rubin said. “There’s a history. Why change it?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080207-01_01.jpg) Film Festival (Photo: Photo courtesy Santa Monica International) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080207-01_03.jpg) POINTED QUESTION: Gary Silverstein, owner of Gary’s Knife Sharpening Service, plies his trade at the Farmers’ Market on Arizona Avenue. (Photo: Photo courtesy) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080207-01_04.jpg) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)