Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, teaches how to prepare a Grilled Fig, Peach and Market Ham Salad on Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.. Saltsman demonstrates how to prepare a complete meal from the food purchased at your local farmers market. Saltsman is a writer, cooking teacher, and host and producer of the television program Fresh from the Farmers’ Market, which teaches viewers how to shop for both common and uncommon ingredients and how to use them in exciting, simple dishes full of bright flavors.

(top) Heal the Bay Aquarist Brianne Emhiser, 25, AKA "The Bag Monster" encourages shoppers to support the ordinance to ban plastic bags  during the Santa Monica's Downtown Farmers Market on Wednesday, February, 13, 2008. (above) Heal the Bay's  Aquarium Director Vicki Wawerchak, and the "Bag Monster" encourage residents to support the  plastic ban by showing up at City Hall and voicing their support. The Santa Monica City Council is scheduled to vote on drafting an ordinance to ban plastic bags in the city during February 19th hearing at City Hall.  The ban that is being considered (which is recommended by the city's staff), is a far-reaching and comprehensive approach to the problem of single-use plastic and paper bag consumption.

 

 

(above) The Stefani Valadez Ensemble performs at the Santa Monica Main Street Farmers Market on Sunday, February 10, 2008. Singer, guitarist, songwriter, Stefani Valadez offers a rich repertoire of soulful romantic, enchanting melodies, including songs from many lands. (top) Jeff Breeh on the upright base and Jamie Papish on the percussion. (center) Nyofu Tyson on the Turkish Saz (long neck lute) and Richard Hardy on the Sax.

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Rich Sheldon (left) from the Rebel Soul Band  performs an original track during the Santa Monica Main Street Farmers Market on Sunday, January 13, 2008. Rebel Soul Band is a labor of love that mixes the elements of quality songwriting with a groovin’ rock n’ roll band to create a true art form.  RSB breaks through the limitations of style to play funk, blues, reggae, ragtime, bluegrass, jazz and psychedelic rock while creating music with a message.  It begins with the lives of four musicians hailing from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and California all with a passion for improvisational Groove oriented Rock n’ Roll.

 

 

 

Jason Chamberlin, 26, from Wong Farms, gives out free samples of hydroponic grown tomatoes at Santa Monica's Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday, January, 26, 2008.

(Above, Left to Right) Odilia Pacios, Kelsey Namara, Ariella, Addie Lupert and Mariposa Oxenberg of the group Yeh Dede perform at the Santa Monica Main Street Farmers Market on Sunday, January 27, 2008. Yeh Dede is a world music fusion ensemble dedicated to making the world smaller and more understood one song at a time. Delving into music of West Africa, the Middle East, Afro-Cuban songs and their own musical creations and improvised interpretations, Yeh Dede’s mix of Afro-Latin percussion with sultry and sometimes sensual voices “nurtures their listeners global conscious and instills in them an overwhelming urge to put their body to the dance.” Yeh Dede means "to make noise" in Twi, a language from Ghana.

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