I’ve posted before warning about sketchy advertising, so I wanted to share another discovery with you.

As you’ve no doubt noticed, we trainers strongly encourage you to shop at your local farmer’s markets. I won’t rehash the benefits of doing so, but I will strongly encourage you to support your local farmers. When searching for a nearby offering, you need to make sure to look for a CA Certified Farmer’s Market. You might be wondering, “Are there fake farmer’s markets? What’s the need for certification?”

The major benefit is that you know that the farmer you’re buying from actually grows the product in question. There’s no reselling of another person’s goods, so if you have ANY question about pesticide use or the feed that their animals are on, you can ask the farmer directly. This is obviously invaluable, as you are able to speak right to the source instead of purchasing some plastic-wrapped anonymous item at the grocery store.

Since my friends know that I frequent the Torrance Farmer’s Market, one was eager to tell me about a “new farmer’s market” at the Del Amo Fashion Center. I stopped by and was sorely disappointed by what I found. While So Fresh Market is an open-air market, they are definitely not a farmer’s market in any sense of the word. To their credit, they do not advertise themselves as a farmer’s market, but rather “an open-air, community market providing a place for South Bay locals to come together to shop for peak of the season fruits and vegetables, local cuisine, [and] natural foods…”.

One of the first clues that this isn’t a true farmer’s market is that there are central cash registers, rather than individual farmers that you pay directly. I also noticed the produce had stickers on the fruit which were not locally grown, but instead your typical imported fruit from South America or further away. I’m not sure what the “community” aspect of the market is supposed to be, and evidently “peak of the season” doesn’t specify where in the world that season may be. When I pressed one of the “experts” on where the food came from, he admitted that this is nothing more than an open-air grocery store. So don’t be fooled, if you do decide to patronize So Fresh, realize that you’re shopping at an outdoor equivalent akin to your local Ralph’s and not a real farmer’s market.

WOD 08.02.10

Max Thruster 1-1-1-1-1

Then, 5 rounds for time:

• 5 Ring Dips
• 9 Box Jumps
• 7 Overhead Squats